Liposome DNA delivery and uptake by cells (review)

Human gene therapy is a rapidly emerging field; therapeutic genes are engineered into adenovirus, retrovirus, or into plasmid-liposome complexes for their delivery into cells in culture or in vivo. Steps to improve for successful liposome-mediated gene delivery to somatic cells include persistence of the plasmid in blood circulation, port of entry and transport across the cell membrane, release from endosomal compartments into the cytoplasm, nuclear import by docking through the pore complexes of the nuclear envelope, expression driven by the appropriate promoter/enhancer control elements, and persistence of the plasmid in the nucleus for long periods. A number of strategies for enhancing the efficiency of uptake by the cells and release from endosomal compartments of liposome-plasmid or liposome-oligonucleotide complexes are reviewed here; emphasis is given to the direction of liposomes to caveolae vesicles.