Low Molecular Weight Chitosan (LMWC)-based Polyplexes for pDNA Delivery: From Bench to Bedside

Non-viral gene delivery vectors are emerging as a safer alternative to viral vectors. Among natural polymers, chitosan (Ch) is the most studied one, and low molecular weight Ch, specifically, presents a wide range of advantages for non-viral pDNA delivery. It is crucial to determine the best process...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Agirre Díez, Mireia, Zarate Sesma, Jon, Ojeda Hernández, Edilberto, Puras Ochoa, Gustavo, Desbrieres, Jacques, Pedraz Muñoz, José Luis
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/16617
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/16617
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC)
pDNA
polyplex
non-viral vector
gene delivery
transfection efficiency
nonviral gene delivery
phosphorylcholine-substituded chitosans
intracellular trafficking
in-vitro
physicochemical properties
DNA delivery
cellular uptake
nucleic-acids
plasmid DNA
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS
Descripción
Sumario:Non-viral gene delivery vectors are emerging as a safer alternative to viral vectors. Among natural polymers, chitosan (Ch) is the most studied one, and low molecular weight Ch, specifically, presents a wide range of advantages for non-viral pDNA delivery. It is crucial to determine the best process for the formation of Low Molecular Weight Chitosan (LMWC)-pDNA complexes and to characterize their physicochemical properties to better understand their behavior once the polyplexes are administered. The transfection efficiency of Ch based polyplexes is relatively low. Therefore, it is essential to understand all the transfection process, including the cellular uptake, endosomal escape and nuclear import, together with the parameters involved in the process to improve the design and development of the non-viral vectors. The aim of this review is to describe the formation and characterization of LMWC based polyplexes, the in vitro transfection process and finally, the in vivo applications of LMWC based polyplexes for gene therapy purposes.