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Improvement of Synthetic Vectors for Gene Therapy Using Ring‐Opening Cationic Polymerization
Author(s) -
Cheradame H.,
Brissault B.,
Guis C.,
Guégan P.,
Pomel C.,
Kichler A.,
Gau J.,
Auvray L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200650821
Subject(s) - cationic polymerization , amphiphile , polyelectrolyte , transfection , copolymer , polymerization , dna , combinatorial chemistry , ring opening polymerization , genetic enhancement , chemistry , biophysics , materials science , polymer chemistry , polymer , gene , organic chemistry , biology , biochemistry
For efficirent gene transfer, DNA has to be associated with a carrier which can be either of biological (i.e. recombinant viruses) or synthetic origin. In the domain of polymeric synthetic vectors two general types can be envisaged, namely positive polyelectrolytes or neutral amphiphilic block copolymers. Both types can be synthesized by ring‐opening cationic polymerization. Several examples show that the versatility of this polymerization technique can be used for the design of structures which after transfection studies, either in vitro or in vivo, can allow conclusions on the most important parameters which govern transfection efficacy. The present study allowed to conclude on the importance of physico‐chemical characteristics of these vectors, i.e. the linear macrostructure for the positive polyelectrolytes, and the amphiphilic nature for the neutral block copolymers.