The GALA Peptide: Multiple Roles in Drug and Gene Delivery

Therapeutic nucleic acids must be formulated in delivery systems that permit them to be efficiently targeted to specific tissues within the body and to overcome the endosomal barrier to deliver these molecules to their intracellular target sites. GALA is a synthetic amphipathic 30 amino acids peptide that performs both functions. It has the ability to target the lung endothelium and induce membrane fusion, which facilitates endosomal escape of therapeutic nucleic acids. In this review, we introduce the GALA peptide and discuss its multiple roles in drug and gene delivery. We first describe the peptide and its ability to induce membrane fusion and pore-formation. We next focus on applications of this peptide in gene delivery in-vitro and in-vivo. We also discuss the synergistic combination between GALA and oligoargnine peptides and their applicability to active tumor targeting. The GALA peptide introduced in this review has great promise as an efficient tool for gene delivery.