POLYCATIONIC LIPIDS FOR TRANSFECTION OF BIOMOLECULES

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract). Cationic liposomes are currently the most promising potential delivery system for expression of DNA in eukaryotic cells. They have many desirable characteristics for use in the new field of gene therapy, but their efficiency is still less than ideal. In the proposed research the structure-activity relationships between a series of novel polycationic lipids and their transfection efficiencies in delivering nucleic acids into mammalian cells will be studied. The thrust of the proposed research is the synthesis of new lipids whose nucleic acid transfection efficiencies are several fold greater than those of currently commercially available lipids with minimal or no toxicity. These lipids possess chemical functionalities as well as stereochemical characteristics which have not been previously explored in the field of liposome research. These lipids will be tested in commonly used cell lines as well as in primary and postmitotic cells. Efficiencies will be determined using a beta-Gal or green fluorescent protein assay. Some of these lipids might have unique properties applicable not only to DNA transfection and gene therapy, but also in the multibillion dollar detergent and cosmetics industry. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 453 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 LM06295-01A1 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 DELANEY, GERALD T IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG7 SUDBURY SYSTEMS INC AWARD AMOUNT......... $100,000 490 BOSTON POST RD SUDBURY, MA 01776 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: SUDBURY SYSTEMS, INC. TITLE WEB-BASED MULTI-MEDIA ACCESS TO RADIOLOGIC INFORMATION ABSTRACT: The World Wide Web provides a mechanism for integrating information from a wide variety of sources and for distributing the information to a wide array of users. With appropriate security, the Web is destined to become an important tool for integrating and distributing medical information. Phase I of the project will evaluate Web-based distribution for the Nuclear Medicine Division at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. The Nuclear Medicine Information System and the OpenPACS image archive are already equipped with Web servers. During Phase I, a Web server for the RTAS voice dictation system will be implemented, the integrated mutimedia (voice, image, cine and text) reporting will be evaluated, and the target product will be designed. The Phase I results will serve as a proof of principle for a more general radiologic multimedia information access system. The target system will be table driven allowing flexibility in interfacing to a large variety of systems and vendors. Radiology information is maintained in three general types of systems: Digital Voice Dictation, Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS), and databases, Radiology Information Systems (RIS). The proposed product will provide a tool for integrated access to the many systems which provide these types of data in a typical Radiology Department. Applets downloaded from the server to Web browsers can be used to extend the capabilities of the browsers, e.g. providing radiologic specific display operations. Providing integrated multimedia access to radiologic information has the potential for providing better communication between Radiologist and other health care workers using inexpensive, generally available, Web client software and hardware platforms.