Paper Citing NAMD - Abstract
Meneksedag-Erol, Deniz; Sun, Chongbo; Tang, Tian; Uludag, Hasan
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Polyplexes and Lipoplexes Employed in Gene Delivery
INTRACELLULAR DELIVERY II: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS, 7:277-311, 2014
Gene therapy is an important therapeutic strategy in the treatment of a wide range of genetic disorders. Delivery of genetic materials into patient cells is limited since nucleic acids are vulnerable to degradation in extra- and intra-cellular environments. Design of delivery vehicles can overcome these limitations. Polymers and lipids are effective non-viral nucleic acid carriers; they can form stable complexes with nucleic acids known as polyplexes and lipoplexes. Despite the great amount of experimental work pursued on polymer or lipid based gene delivery systems, detailed atomic level information is needed for a better understanding of the roles the polymers and lipids play during delivery. This chapter will review molecular dynamics simulations performed on polyplexes and lipoplexes at critical stages of gene delivery. Interactions between various carriers and nucleic acids during the formation of polyplexes/lipoplexes, condensation and aggregation of nucleic acids facilitated by the carriers, binding of the polyplexes/lipoplexes to cell membrane, as well as their intracellular pathway are reviewed; and the gaps in the theoretical field are highlighted.
