Abstract
Nonviral gene delivery methods represent a potential safe and effective approach for treating myriad diseases. For many gene therapy applications, delivering multiple exogenous genes and controlling the time profile that these genes are expressed would be advantageous. Polymeric nonviral gene carriers are versatile and can be readily tailored for particular therapeutic applications, have the ability to carry multiple large genes within each particle, and can be more easily manufactured than viruses used for gene delivery. A layer-by-layer (LbL) theranostic-enabling nanoparticle was developed to incorporate two plasmid types which have differing expression time profiles. Temporally controlling the expression of exogenous DNA enables superior control over the microenvironment and could lead to better control over differentiation pathways and cell fate. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 707-713, 2016.