Natural Polymer Development Service

Development of Natural Polymers for Gene Delivery

Natural polymers offer significant advantages and may help advance the field of non-viral vector-based gene therapy. Our company is committed to providing our customers with a variety of modification strategies to develop natural polymer-based gene delivery vectors suitable for different research applications, which are essential to realizing the potential benefits of gene therapy against various rare diseases.

Background

Different types of polymers have been used in delivery systems in various capacities due to their structural flexibility. Natural polymers offer unique advantages, including biodegradability in biogenic systems, the inclusion of reactive sites suitable for ligand conjugation, cross-linking, and other modifications, and inherent environmentally responsive properties through degradation and remodeling by cell-secreted enzymes. These advantages make polymers suitable for a range of research applications.

Natural polymers have been used in a wide range of gene therapies and have been successfully applied as non-viral gene therapy systems in different routes of delivery. Some of the natural polymers used as delivery systems include alginate, collagens, fibrins, galactan, gellan, dextran, hyaluronic acid, cellulose, starch, chitosan (chitin), etc. It has been shown that chitosan-based non-viral systems offer promising results in cystic fibrosis gene therapy.

Fig. 1 Preparation of TCS-g-poly(PEGMA-co-DMAEMA)-FA/pDNA polyplexes. (Chen C K, et al., 2020)

Our Services

Our researchers focus on knowledge and technologies related to natural polymer-based non-viral gene delivery to help our customers develop novel and efficient gene delivery vectors to advance gene therapy, especially for rare diseases. Our services include, but are not limited to:

Development of chitosan and its derivatives for gene delivery
- Design of chitosan-based gene delivery systems
  We design successful gene delivery systems by finding a fine balance between values of the molecular weight (Mw), the degree of acetylation (DA), and the N/P charge ratio of chitosan to achieve optimal association and dissociation capacity and the highest transfection rates.
- Preparation of chitosan-based gene delivery systems
  We help customers prepare chitosan-based gene delivery systems using three methods, including simple complexation due to ionic interaction, ionic gelation using crosslinkers, and adsorption of DNA/siRNA on the surface of preformed chitosan nanoparticles.
- Structural modification of chitosan
  We provide structural modification of chitosan to enhance the efficacy of this polymer in nucleic acid delivery, such as the preparation of trimethylchitosan (TMC) and folic acid-conjugated hydroxypropyl-chitosan.
Development of protein-based vectors for gene delivery
We use mainly gelatine and albumin to help our customers prepare gene delivery vectors. In addition, we offer multiple strategies to improve the gene delivery efficiency of these vectors, such as chemical modifications such as PEGylated and preparation of bioconjugates.
Development of other natural polymers
We also offer services for the preparation and optimization of gene delivery vectors based on other natural polymers including cyclodextrin (CD), dextran, and human serum albumin. For example, we help customers prepare dextran-spermine-based polycations, PEI-graft-dextran, and PEI-albumin conjugates.
Characterization of natural polymer-polynucleotide complexes
We provide a wide range of characterization techniques, such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to help customers characterize the biophysical properties of natural polymer-polynucleotide complexes. The parameters we measure include morphology, size distribution, zeta potential, binding affinity, colloidal stability, transfection efficiency, and cytotoxicity.

As a highly innovative, robust, and diversified company, we have a strong and scientifically proven background in non-viral gene delivery vector research. We have the ability to offer our customers a diversiform portfolio of services and products for the development of natural polymer-based gene delivery vectors. If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more details and to get a formal quote.

Reference

Chen, C. K.; et al. Biodegradable polymers for gene-delivery applications. International journal of nanomedicine, 2020, 15: 2131.

All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be used to diagnose, treat or manage patients.

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