Journal
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
Volume 134, Issue 3, Pages 158-168Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2008.11.021
Keywords
Chitosan; Delivery; Non-viral vectors; Nucleic acid; Transfection efficiency
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Chitosan is a naturally occurring cationic mucopolysaccharide. It is generally biocompatible, biodegradable, mucoadhesive, non-immunogenic and non-toxic. Although chitosan is able to condense nucleic acids (NA) (both DNA and RNA) and protect them from nuclease degradation, its poor water solubility and low transfection efficacy have impeded its use as an NA carrier. In order to overcome such limitations, a multitude of strategies for chitosan modification and formulation have been proposed. In this article, we will first give a brief overview of the physical and biological properties of chitosan. Then, with a special focus on plasmid DNA delivery, we will have a detailed discussion of the latest advances in chitosan-mediated NA transfer. For future research, the following three important areas will be discussed: chitosan-mediated therapeutic small RNA transfer, structure-activity relationships (SAR) in chitosan vector design, and chitosan-mediated oral/nasal NA therapy. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available