Ligand-targeted receptor-mediated vectors for gene delivery

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Abstract
Gene therapy promises to cure human genetic diseases. One of the main obstacles to fulfilling this promise is in the ability to target a gene to a significant population of cells and express it at adequate levels for a long enough period of time. Viral methods for gene delivery have been studied for a number of years and are effective vectors for gene transfer. The great majority of gene therapy clinical trials currently in progress use retroviruses or adenoviruses. However, there are concerns for their clinical use because of possible risks of mutagenesis, immunogenic side-effects and toxicity. In addition to this, there are other limitations, including the size of gene that can be transferred. Over the last ten years, a new approach has emerged that has increasingly gathered speed thanks to advances in receptor cell biology and antibody production. This method involves ligand-targeted receptor mediated endocytosis (RME) of ‘polyplexes’. Here, synthetic complexes are composed of a cell-specific targeting...