These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Aerosol delivery of robust polyethyleneimine-DNA complexes for gene therapy and genetic immunization.
    Author: Densmore CL, Orson FM, Xu B, Kinsey BM, Waldrep JC, Hua P, Bhogal B, Knight V.
    Journal: Mol Ther; 2000 Feb; 1(2):180-8. PubMed ID: 10933929.
    Abstract:
    Aerosol delivery of plasmid DNA to the lungs offers the possibility of direct application of gene preparations to pulmonary surfaces as a means of treating a variety of genetic pulmonary disorders. However, the process of jet nebulization rapidly degrades naked DNA, viral vectors, and many lipid-based formulations. While complexing DNA with cationic lipids has been shown to significantly stabilize plasmid DNA, losses of biological activity often occur during nebulization, severely limiting the efficiency of aerosol delivery of many such complexes. In conjunction with the design of aerosol delivery systems appropriate for DNA delivery, we have developed formulations using polyethyleneimine (PEI, a polycationic polymer) and DNA that result in a high level of pulmonary transfection (10- to 100-fold greater than many cationic lipids) and are stable during nebulization. In addition, these PEI-based formulations exhibit a high degree of specificity for the lungs. The properties of PEI-based formulations that make them resistant to nebulization and efficient as DNA delivery vectors for pulmonary sites have been investigated. Potential applications of this technology, including the use of aerosolized PEI-DNA for genetic immunization, are discussed.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]