High gene delivery efficiency of alkylated low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine through gemini surfactant-like effect.

ABSTRACT: To our knowledge, the mechanism underlying the high transfection efficiency of alkylated low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI) is not yet well understood. In this work, we grafted branched PEI (molecular weight of 1,800 Da; bPEI1800) with lauryl chains (C??), and found that bPEI1800-C?? was structurally similar to gemini surfactant and could similarly assemble into micelle-like particles. Stability, cellular uptake, and lysosome escape ability of bPEI1800-C??/DNA polyplexes were all greatly enhanced after C?? grafting. bPEI1800-C??/DNA polyplexes exhibited significantly higher transfection efficiency than Lipofectamine 2000 in the presence of serum. Bioluminescence imaging showed that systemic injection of bPEI1800-C??/DNA polyplexes resulted in intensive luciferase expression in vivo and bioluminescence signals that could be detected even in the head. Altogether, the high transfection efficacy of bPEI1800-C?? was because bPEI1800-C??, being an analog of gemini surfactant, facilitated lysosome escape and induced the coil-globule transition of DNA to assemble into a highly organized micelle-like structure that showed high stability.

SUBMITTER: Liu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4122513 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature