Title:Nanoparticulated Polymeric Systems for Gene Delivery
Volume: 21
Issue: 29
Author(s): Koldo Urbiola, Laura Blanco-Fernandez and Conchita Tros de Ilarduya
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Gene delivery, nanotechnology, polymeric systems, gene therapy, non-viral vectors.
Abstract: Gene therapy, currently, represents one of the new therapies that have emerged for the treatment of different
diseases. Between the different approaches that can be chosen concerning this therapy, gene delivery with
non-viral systems has focused the attention during the past decades, because of the reduced toxicity compared to
the viral systems. Non-viral vectors are formed by a group of different molecules with a wide variety of sources
and features. Among them, polymeric systems have been extensively studied due to the ability to form nanoparticles
in the presence of nucleic acids, protect the included nucleic acid and more importantly, improve the entrance
of the desired nucleic acid fragment into the cell and hopefully achieve a therapeutic effect. In this review, some of
the most used polymeric systems are commented with the main characteristics that can influence the activity of
each of them, such as the molecular weight, N/P ratio (positive charges of cationic polymer/negative charges of
pDNA), stability or the molecular structure.