Recent Advance of Development of Viral and Non-viral Vectors for Gene Therapy

Barriers and recent advances in non-viral vectors targeting the lungs for cystic fibrosis gene therapy

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in CFTR genes that affect chloride ion channel. The CF is a good nominee for gene therapy as the asymptomatic carriers are phenotypically normal, and the desired cells are accessible for vector delivery. Gene therapy shows promising effects involving the correction of gene or replacement of the mutant gene with the func...

Development of Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy for Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a major health concern that affects millions of people. There are no adequate long-term therapies for chronic pain sufferers, leading to significant cost for both society and the individual. The most commonly used therapy for chronic pain is the application of opioid analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but these drugs can lead to addiction and may cause side eff...

Development of Viral Vectors for Use in Cardiovascular Gene Therapy

Cardiovascular disease represents the most common cause of mortality in the developed world but, despite two decades of promising pre-clinical research and numerous clinical trials, cardiovascular gene transfer has so far failed to demonstrate convincing benefits in the clinical setting. In this review we discuss the various targets which may be suitable for cardiovascular gene therapy and the ...

Peptides as Promising Non-Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy

Advances in Non-Viral DNA Vectors for Gene Therapy

Uses of viral vectors have thus far eclipsed uses of non-viral vectors for gene therapy delivery in the clinic. Viral vectors, however, have certain issues involving genome integration, the inability to be delivered repeatedly, and possible host rejection. Fortunately, development of non-viral DNA vectors has progressed steadily, especially in plasmid vector length reduction, now allowing these...