title: Physical non-viral gene delivery methods for tissue engineering.
abstract: The integration of gene therapy into tissue engineering to control differentiation and direct tissue formation is not a new concept; however, successful delivery of nucleic acids into primary cells, progenitor cells, and stem cells has proven exceptionally challenging. Viral vectors are generally highly effective at delivering nucleic acids to a variety of cell populations, both dividing and non-dividing, yet these viral vectors are marred by significant safety concerns. Non-viral vectors are preferred for gene therapy, despite lower transfection efficiencies, and possess many customizable attributes that are desirable for tissue engineering applications. However, there is no single non-viral gene delivery strategy that "fits-all" cell types and tissues. Thus, there is a compelling opportunity to examine different non-viral vectors, especially physical vectors, and compare their relative degrees of success. This review examines the advantages and disadvantages of physical non-viral methods (i.e., microinjection, ballistic gene delivery, electroporation, sonoporation, laser irradiation, magnetofection, and electric field-induced molecular vibration), with particular attention given to electroporation because of its versatility, with further special emphasis on Nucleofection™. In addition, attributes of cellular character that can be used to improve differentiation strategies are examined for tissue engineering applications. Ultimately, electroporation exhibits a high transfection efficiency in many cell types, which is highly desirable for tissue engineering applications, but electroporation and other physical non-viral gene delivery methods are still limited by poor cell viability. Overcoming the challenge of poor cell viability in highly efficient physical non-viral techniques is the key to using gene delivery to enhance tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mellott
authors.forename: M Laird
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Forrest
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Detamore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000639:trends; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D004247:DNA