Polymers for Gene Delivery: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Gene therapy is a hope for curing many diseases and pathological conditions which are relatively difficult to treat. However lack of proper gene delivery vehicle is the main limiting step in this direction. Though viral vectors still lead as the major vehicle used in gene therapy clinical trials, their immunogenicity and low capacity restrict their wide use. Hence there is a need for developing non-viral vectors which can really be used for clinical applications. Polymers are a versatile group of molecules which can be modified and designed or engineered according to the end needs of the applications. The objective of this review is to summarize the recent advances in the development of polymeric vectors for gene delivery applications reported in patents and scientific journals. Keywords: Gene therapy, polyethylene imine, polyaminoesters, chitosan, acrylates, polymeric gene delivery, non-viral vectors, immunogenicity, polymeric vectors, controllable toxicity, non-immunogenicity, cationic domains, naked DNA