Theranostics 2019; 9(11):3094-3106. doi:10.7150/thno.31914 This issue Cite
Review
1. College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
2. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR, China.
Gene therapy, with an important role in biomedicine, often requires vectors for gene condensation in order to avoid degradation, improve membrane permeation, and achieve targeted delivery. Macrocyclic molecules are a family of artificial receptors that can selectively bind a variety of guest species. Amphiphilic macrocycles, particularly those bearing cationic charges and their various assemblies represent a new class of promising non-viral vectors with intrinsic advantages in gene condensation and delivery. The most prominent examples include amphiphilic cyclodextrins, calixarenes and pillararenes. Herein, we systemically reviewed reported assemblies of amphiphilic macrocycles for gene delivery and therapy. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of macrocyclic amphiphiles for gene delivery, as well as the perspectives on the future development of this area are discussed.
Keywords: macrocyclic amphiphiles, gene delivery