Progress in arginine-based gene delivery systems

Abstract

Gene therapy is deemed to be a powerful and promising tool to treat many stubborn diseases in the near future. For successful gene therapy, gene vectors play a vital role as they determine whether the edited gene can be loaded and transferred into target cells effectively. However, traditional gene vectors face some serious challenges, especially in biosafety and trans-membrane efficiency. Recently, inspired by cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) possessing excellent biosafety and trans-membrane efficiency, various types of arginine-based gene delivery systems have been designed and fabricated. In this review, the superiority and mechanism of action of arginine in promoting membrane penetration are briefly presented. Then, four types of arginine-based gene vectors, namely, typical linear polymers, dendrimers, lipids and arginine-based composite gene vectors and their applications are discussed in detail. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives of arginine-based gene delivery systems are discussed.