Versatile applications of a safe and efficient peptide in gene/drug delivery

Gene therapy is one of the most attractive new therapeutic strategies in the treatment of multiple diseases. However, to apply gene therapy in clinic, an efficient and safe delivery system must be developed to transport these therapeutic reagents to target organs. The existing gene carriers suffer from either high cytotoxicity or immunogenicity problems, which will cause severe side effects when used in human. The new peptide based delivery system we developed demonstrated better performance and lower toxicity than the commercialized product on market. Preliminary animal experiments also proved the great therapeutic potential of this novel peptide. Now we propose to further confirm the efficiency of this peptide on various cells from different tissues, as well as to extend the application to deliver other therapeutic molecules. The partner organization will benefit from the potential of commercializing a product with bright market prospect and promising therapeutic applications.

Faculty Supervisor:

Pu Chen

Student:

Wen Xu

Partner:

Positec

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Chemicals

University:

University of Waterloo