Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Immunology Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Biochem Genet. 2024 Feb;62(1):18-39. doi: 10.1007/s10528-023-10416-7. Epub 2023 Jul 2.
A new era of medical technology in cancer treatment is a directly specific modification of gene expression in tumor cells by nucleic acid delivery. Currently, the main challenge to achieving this goal is to find a non-toxic, safe, and effective strategy for gene transfer to cancer cells. Synthetic composites based on cationic polymers have historically been favored in bioengineering due to their ability to mimic bimolecular structures. Among them, polyethylenimines (PEIs) with superior properties such as a wide range of molecular weight and a flexible structure may propel the development of functional combinations in the biomedical and biomaterial fields. Here, in this review, we will focus on the recent progressions in the formulation optimization of PEI-based polyplex in gene delivery to treat cancer. Also, the effect of PEI's intrinsic characteristics such as structure, molecular weight, and positive charges which influence the gene delivery efficiency will be discussed.
癌症治疗中的医学新纪元是通过核酸传递直接特异性修饰肿瘤细胞中的基因表达。目前，实现这一目标的主要挑战是寻找一种非毒性、安全且有效的基因转移到癌细胞的策略。基于阳离子聚合物的合成复合材料由于能够模拟双分子结构，在生物工程中历来受到青睐。其中，聚亚乙基亚胺（PEI）因其分子量范围广、结构灵活等优异性能，可能会推动生物医学和生物材料领域功能组合的发展。在这里，我们将在本综述中重点介绍基于 PEI 的聚阳离子体在基因传递治疗癌症方面的配方优化的最新进展。此外，还将讨论影响基因传递效率的 PEI 固有特性（如结构、分子量和正电荷）的影响。
