title: Sustained expression from DNA vectors.
abstract: DNA vectors have the potential to become powerful medical tools for treatment of human disease. The human body has, however, developed a range of defensive strategies to detect and silence foreign or misplaced DNA, which is more typically encountered during infection or chromosomal damage. A clinically relevant human gene therapy vector must overcome or avoid these protections whilst delivering sustained levels of therapeutic gene product without compromising the vitality of the recipient host. Many non-viral DNA vectors trigger these defense mechanisms and are subsequently destroyed or rendered silent. Thus, without modification or considered design, the clinical utility of a typical DNA vector is fundamentally limited due to the transient nature of its transgene expression. The development of safe and persistently expressing DNA vectors is a crucial prerequisite for its successful clinical application and subsequently remains, therefore, one of the main strategic tasks of non-viral gene therapy research. In this chapter we will describe our current understanding of the mechanisms that can destroy or silence DNA vectors and discuss strategies, which have been utilized to improve their sustenance and the level and duration of their transgene expression.
authors.affiliation: Leukocyte Biology Section, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Suet Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology-Pharmacotechnology, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Orestis
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Argyros
authors.affiliation: DNA Vector Research, German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Harbottle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055012:Chromosomal Position Effects; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D015870:Gene Expression; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA vectors; Episomal maintenance; Gene silencing; Long-term transgene expression; Minicircles; Mitotic stability; Nonintegrating vectors; Nonviral vectors; S/MAR; Transfection; Vector loss