There have been rapid advances in the development of non-viral techniques for gene transfer. Although viruses are highly evolved to infect mammalian cells, they have several limitations. The general theme is to mimic the advantageous components of viral systems whilst separating them from their limiting functions. The systems described here are broadly divided into true non-viral techniques and...

Gene delivery has attracted increasing interest as a highly promising therapeutic method to treat various diseases, including both genetic and acquired disorders. However, its clinical application is still hampered by the lack of safe and effective gene delivery techniques, as well as by the need of non-invasive routes of administration in gene delivery platforms. Among the different approaches...

Gene therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) has been the subject of intense research over the last twenty-five years or more, using both viral and liposomal delivery methods, but so far without the emergence of a clinical therapy. New approaches to CF gene therapy involving recent improvements to vector systems, both viral and non-viral, as well as new nucleic acid technologies have led to renewed in...

The efficient delivery of therapeutic genes and appropriate gene expression are the crucial issues for clinically relevant gene therapy. Viruses are naturally evolved vehicles which efficiently transfer their genes into host cells. This ability made them desirable for engineering virus vector systems for the delivery of therapeutic genes. The viral vectors recently in laboratory and clinical us...

Safe, effective, and tissue-specific delivery is a central issue for the therapeutic application of nucleic-acid-based gene interfering agents, such as ribozymes and siRNAs. In this study, we constructed a functional RNase P-based ribozyme (M1GS RNA) that targets the overlapping mRNA region of M80.5 and protease, two murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) proteins essential for viral replication. In add...

From the viewpoint of safety, non-viral vector systems represent an attractive gene delivery system for gene therapy. However, the transfection efficiency of non-viral vectors in vivo is generally very low. Previously, it was reported that microbubbles, utilized as imaging agents for diagnostic echocardiography, could promote gene delivery into cells when combined with ultrasound exposure. We t...

As a consequence of several setbacks encountered by viral technology in achieving efficient and safe gene therapy in clinical trials, non-viral gene delivery vectors are considered to date as a valuable alternative and to hold promise for future therapeutic applications. Nevertheless, the transfection efficiency mediated by these non-viral gene delivery vectors has to be improved, especially in...

Gene therapy, aiming to eradicate causes rather than symptoms of diseases, is believed to be the therapy of the future. A new promising area for the application of gene therapy is the emerging field of regenerative medicine, where gene delivery can be used to enhance or modify cell functions in an organ/tissue or in engineered substitutes. The aim of gene therapy is to achieve the expression of...