title: [Advances in cationic polymers used as nonviral vectors for gene delivery].
abstract: Gene therapy has been considered as a promising method for treatment of many diseases, such as acquired and genetic diseases. At present, there are two major vehicles for gene delivery including viral vectors and nonviral vectors. Viral vectors appear as high gene transfection efficiency, but some deficiencies such as inflammatory responses, recombination and mutagenesis have limited their use. On account of low pathogenicity, safety and cost-effectiveness, nonviral vectors have been attracted much attention. Cationic polymers are one of the nonviral vectors which have been widely studied. This review focuses on the structure of the cationic polymers and the interaction mechanism between the vector and DNA. We try to provide a framework for the future design and synthesis of nonviral vectors with high transfection efficiency and low toxicity for gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Research Center for Translational Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xianyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Zhenzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yubin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D011108:Polymers; D004247:DNA