DNA Degradation
In gene therapy, plasmid DNA (pDNA) can express desired proteins in the human body. A major issue in gene therapy consequently involves the transport of pDNA to target sites and the conversion between different forms of this species. Furthermore, the pDNA-forms interconvert and degrades with time.The example illustrates the kinetic analysis of pDNA degradation. We build a kinetic model where the super coiled form of pDNA converts to the open circular form and subsequently to the linear form. The linear form of pDNA finally decomposes into a number of linear fragments. The material balances are subsequently solved under isothermal conditions.
We then compare simulation results with experimental data in order to calibrate/validate the model.
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Collage of a model showing the degredation of dna over time. Seen is the concentration of species over time compared with experimental results, the Species definition window and Model settings window |
Engineering Fields
- Reaction Engineering
Application Areas
- Chemical Reaction Engineering
- Biotechnology
- Biomedical Engineering