Bioengineering strategies for gene delivery

Abstract More than 2500 clinical trials involving gene therapy have been recorded worldwide and recently FDA approval was achieved for several gene therapy approaches. Now, one of the focuses could be on furthering the design of appropriate delivery vehicles where local, sustained, and controlled expression of therapeutic nucleic acids and/or proteins can be accomplished. This chapter looks at gene therapies and their delivery strategies in applications of tissue regeneration and disease treatment, focusing on vascular regeneration and neurodegenerative disease. First, an overview of the current clinical outlook of gene therapies and the continuing challenges of spatiotemporal control of release and expression of vector constructs will be given. Second, vector limitations will be reviewed to show the continuing motivation of engineering material strategies for therapeutic gene delivery. Third, a discussion of how both vector and material strategy selection provides greater control over spatiotemporal delivery and expression of the genetic payload will be given. Finally, the chapter will be concluded with the future directions of gene therapies used in conjunction with engineered delivery systems.