Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Muzaffarnagar Medical College, Muzaffarnagar, UP

Abstract

Peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and their analogs with high therapeutic value have shown great potential as biopharmaceuticals to treat various diseases such as cancer, infectious diseases, genetic disorders etc. However, successful delivery of such biomolecules is a major challenge as their molecular properties lead to poor physical and chemical stability under in vivo conditions with limited cellular uptake. Through the past researches, a wide range of lead molecules have been identified which have shown high binding affinity and great potential in In-vitro non-cellular assays via direct interaction with the molecular targets, however, physicochemical properties, viz., size, poor aqueous solubility, hydrophobic nature and negative charge, of several of these compounds have limited their permeability across cell membrane. Charged polymeric materials possess significant potential and are extensively investigated for various therapeutic applications. Compared to anionic materials, cationic materials are more extensively explored. These form electrostatic complexes with anionic biomolecules (nucleic acids and proteins) and also exhibit bioactive properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and antitumor making cationic materials more promising as therapeutics.

Keywords: Gene Delivery, Polymeric Vector, Biopharmaceuticals, Antitumor, Anionic materials, Cationic materials