Development of plasmid-lipid complexes for direct intratumoral injection

Gene therapy holds great promise as novel therapeutics for several major disorders, such as metabolic abnormalities and cancer. However, its use is limited by the lack of efficient, safe, and specific delivery strategies. Successful development of such strategies requires interdisciplinary collaborations involving expertise in lipid chemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, nanotechnology, systems biology, medical imaging methods, and clinical medicine. This methodological chapter summarizes cationic lipid-mediated gene transfer, which could be a safe and effective means of delivering potent therapeutic genes for transgene expression or gene suppression directly into tumors and gives references to studies on plasmid DNA delivery. These observations apply to gene therapy and DNA-based macromolecular drug synthesis, as well as in vitro and in vivo drug delivery studies.