title: Lipophilic peptides for gene delivery.
abstract: DNA transfections are widely performed in research laboratories and in vivo gene delivery holds the promise for curing many diseases. The synthetic carriers or vectors for DNA are typically cationic lipids. However, in biology, the recognition of nucleic acids by proteins involves both electrostatic and stacking contributions. As such we have prepared a series of new lipophilic peptide vectors that possess lysine and tryptophan amino acids for evaluation. These lipophilic peptides show minimal cytotoxicity and enhanced in vitro gene transfection activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Carla A H
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Prata
authors.forename: Xiao-Xiang
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barthelemy
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Grinstaff
mesh_terms: D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides