Genetic engineering of mesenchymal stem cells by non-viral gene delivery
Issue title: Selected Presentations held at the 33th Annual Conference of the German Society for Clinical Microcirculation and Hemorheology, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, 14-15 November, 2014
Affiliations: Institute of Biomaterial Science and Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Teltow, Germany | Helmholtz Virtual Institute – Multifunctional Materials in Medicine, Berlin and Teltow, Germany | Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Nan Ma, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. E-mail: nan.ma@hzg.de
Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an ideal cell source for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine as they possess self-renewal properties and multilineage differentiation potential. They can be isolated from various tissues and expanded easily through normal cell culture techniques. Genetic modifications of MSCs to further improve their therapeutic efficacy have been widely studied and extensively researched. Compared to viral gene delivery methods, non-viral methods generate less toxicity and immunogenicity and thus represent a promising and effective tool for the genetic engineering of MSCs. In the last decades, various non-viral gene delivery strategies have been developed and some of them have been applied for MSC transfection. This paper gives an overview of the techniques, influencing factors and potential applications of non-viral methods used for the genetic engineering of MSCs.
