Functional gene transfection agents

Applications of cationic dendrimers as transport vehicles have been described, with an emphasis on their use as transfection agents for nucleic acids. They can transfect them into a large number of cell lines and primary culture cells.Dendrimers with protonable amine groups can interact with all forms of nucleic acid by electrostatic interactions to form complexes that condense the nucleic acids. Whereas linear polymers often adopt random coil structures, the 3D structure of a dendrimer is characterized by radial symmetry. To solve many cellular obstacles of gene delivery, functionalization and variation of the dendrimer structure is an important tool that can be applied. These systems have shown stability and non-immunogenic properties for their potential use in a high variety of therapeutic applications and have been successfully used as carriers for nucleic acids and drug delivery. ... 

While the mesoporous silica microspheres are potentially useful for many non-biological functions, they are not suitable for many important biotechnological and biomedical applications, such as agents for gene transfection or carriers... 

Furthermore, the expression and function of the Pgp can be modulated by indirect mechanisms, such as interactions with membrane lipids [67] or inhibition of protein kinase C. The reversal of MDR is established using tumor cells lines that are made resistant by the exposure to an anticancer agent or by transfection of the mdrl or mrpl genes. The parameter most widely used to show the activity of MDR reversal agents is reversal factor (RF). This type of assay assumes that the reversal agent does not show inherent cytotoxicity at the concentrations tested. 

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