DEVELOPMENT OF S/MAR MINICIRLES VECTOR FOR PERSISTENT EXPRESSION IN VIVO.
An ideal vector for gene therapy must fulfil the following requirements: non-toxicity, mitotic stability and persistent therapeutic levels of transgene expression. Viral vectors are widely used due to their ability to sustain prolonged expression. Their potentially tumorigenic effects are a limiting factor for in vivo applications. Non-viral vectors, which can be designed to be free from viral sequences, are a promising alternative for gene transfer although they often produce transient transgene expression. This limitation of this vector type is primarily due to bacterial sequences they contain and these have proven to be toxic for the mammalian cells as they contain a high number of unmet…