The development of multicistronic vectors has opened up new opportunities to address the fundamental issues of molecular and cellular biology related to the need for the simultaneous delivery and joint expression of several genes. To date, the examples of the successful use of multicistronic vectors have been described for the development of new methods of treatment of various human diseases, including cardiovascular, oncological, metabolic, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative disorders. The safety and effectiveness of the joint delivery of therapeutic genes in multicistronic vectors based on the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and self-cleaving 2A peptides have been shown in both in vitro and in vivo experiments as well as in clinical trials.
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