화학공학소재연구정보센터
학회 한국고분자학회
학술대회 2004년 가을 (10/08 ~ 10/09, 경북대학교)
권호 29권 2호, p.55
발표분야 의료용 고분자 부문위원회
제목 Chitosan Derivatives as non-viral vectors
초록 Gene therapy is now seen as a promising approach to the treatment of a wide range of diseases, both congenital and acquired diseases, by producing bioactive agents or stopping abnormal functions of the cells such as genetic disorder or uncontrollable proliferation of cells1. However, the lack of effective vectors is a major barrier for progress in human gene therapy due to several problems, including their instability in body fluids, non-specificity to the target cells, degradation by enzymes, and low transfection efficiency.
Viral vectors have been commonly employed due to the high transfection efficiency compared with non-viral vectors, however, their application to the human body is often frustrated by immunogenecity, potential infectivity, complicated production, and inflammation2. Non-viral vectors have been widely proposed as safer alternatives to viral vectors, and cationic polymers have gained increasing attention because they can form self-assembly with DNA.
Chitosan is also considered to be a good candidate as the gene carrier, since it is already known as a biocompatible, biodegradable, and low toxic material with high cationic potential3. However, low solubility, specificity and especially, low transfection efficiency need to be overcome prior to clinical trial. In this study, we focused on the chemical modification of chitosan for enhancement of cell specificity and transfection efficiency and we investigated the potential of clinical applications.



Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the fund provided by Korean Ministry of Public Health and Welfare (02-PJ3-PG3-31402-0017).



References
1. J. D. Harris, and N. R. Lemoine, Trends in Genetics Vol. 12 (1996), p. 400
2. A. Smith, Annu. Rev. Microbiol Vol. 49 (1995), p. 807
3. K.Y. Lee, I.C. Kwon, Y.H. Kim, W.H. Jo, and S.Y.Jeong, J. Control Rel. Vol. 51 (1998), p. 213
저자 김태희1, 김화1, 김현우1, 조명행1, 나재운2, 조종수1
소속 1서울대, 2순천대
키워드 chitosan; non-viral vector; cell specificity; transfection efficiency; chemical modification
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