弗吉尼亚科技大学的研究人员研发出一种新的聚合物，可用于横跨细胞膜传递基因，使基因与细胞结合。
弗吉尼亚科技大学的教授Tim Long于3月25-29日在芝加哥举行的第233届美国化学协会全国会议中发表这项结果。
他介绍了两种新的聚合物可以应用于生物医学上，用于传递基因和当作组织支架。这两种新研发出的技术对于聚合物而言是一大进展。
目前已经在细胞培养中，证明这种新的聚合物优于表面活性剂的基准，并且提供比病毒载体还低的毒性。
同时，弗吉尼亚科技大学的科学家也研发出一种单一步骤的制程，可以从一种微小的有机分子创造纤维垫，这种新的奈米级生物可兼容的材料，可用于组织再生。
(资料来源 : Bio.com)
英文原文：
Polymers Show Promise for Gene Delivery, Tissue Scaffolds, Other Biomedical Applications
03/27/07 -- Virginia Tech polymer scientists have developed a new family of gene vectors - novel polymers that can ferry genetic material across the cell membrane so that it can be incorporated into the machinery of the cell.
Representing Virginia Tech faculty members and students from engineering, chemistry, and veterinary medicine, Chemistry Professor Tim Long will give an invited lecture at the 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago March 25-29.
The presentation will be an overview of novel polymers developed by Virginia Tech researchers for biomedical applications, with an emphasis on gene delivery and tissue scaffolds. "Both of these emerging technologies are enabled with fundamental advances in polymer chemistry," Long said.
"Synthetic macromolecules can be easily modified to contain a variety of functional elements capable of interacting with biological systems," he said. "Initial studies have found macromolecular topology to be a significant parameter in the delivery of DNA into cells."
In the cell, the new DNA initiates the manufacture of therapeutic proteins, such as might be needed to treat a genetic disease where an enzyme or protein is not produced naturally. The Virginia Tech vectors presently being tested in cell cultures are proving to be superior to surfactant benchmarks and offer reduced toxicity to viral vectors, Long said.
Meanwhile, scientists at Virginia Tech have developed a single-step process for creating fibrous mats from a small organic molecule - a new nanoscale, biocompatible material (Jan. 20, 2006, Science, "Phospholipid Nonwoven Electrospun Membranes," by Matthew G. McKee, John M. Layman, Matthew P. Cashion, and. Long, all at Virginia Tech.).
Since last year, they have improved the durability of the phospholipids through novel photochemistry during electrospinning and have begun to impregnate the porous mats with cells that will initiate tissue regeneration.
Source: Virginia Tech
