Hybrids of nonviral vectors for gene delivery.

Gene transfer has been a critical step for gene therapy. Viral vectors and nonviral vectors are commonly used for gene transfer. It has been shown that nonviral vectors have the advantage over viral ones, as they are nonimmunogenic, easy to produce, and not oncogenic.

Lipoplex morphologies and their influences on transfection efficiency in gene delivery.

Cationic lipid-mediated gene transfer is widely used for their advantages over viral gene transfer because it is non-immunogenic, easy to produce and not oncogenic. The main drawback of the application of cationic lipids is their low transfection efficiency. Many reports about transfection efficiency of cationic lipids have been published in recent years.

Ammonia-nitrogen and orthophosphate removal by immobilized Scenedesmus sp. isolated from municipal wastewater for potential use in tertiary treatment.

Scendesmus sp. isolated from municipal wastewater, entrapped in calcium alginate as algal sheets was employed to remove inorganic nutrients (N and P) from artificial and real domestic secondary effluents in parallel-plate bioreactor after starvation. The key factors affecting the removal efficiency (NH4+-N and PO4(3-)-P), system stability and reuse efficiency of screens were studied and discussed.

Cationic lipids and polymers mediated vectors for delivery of siRNA.

RNA interference (RNAi) is one of the most importantly protective phenomena forming from the process combating against virus. Since its high efficiency for silencing the expression of proteins at the posttranscriptional level, RNAi shows great prospect in therapeutics for diseases. However, the delivery of siRNA into cells, tissues or organs remains to be a big obstacle for its applications.

DNA-collagen complex as a carrier for Ag+ delivery.

The possibility of DNA-collagen complex as a drug carrier was investigated. The interaction between DNA and silver ions was proved by CD spectra. The release property of the complex of DNA-Ag+ was measured through turbidity of PBS solution to indicate that silver ions could coordinate with base pairs of DNA, and be released slowly from the complex of DNA-Ag+.