Thiolated trimethyl chitosan nanocomplexes as gene carriers with high in vitro and in vivo transfection efficiency.

Trimethyl chitosan-cysteine conjugate (TMC-Cys) was evaluated as non-viral gene carriers to combine the advantages of TMC and thiolated chitosan. TMC-Cys with various molecular weights (30, 100, and 200 kDa) and quaternization degrees (15 and 30%) was allowed to form polyelectrolyte nanocomplexes with plasmid encoding enhanced green fluorescence protein (pEGFP), which demonstrated preferable diameters of below 200 nm and zeta potentials of +15 to +20 mV. Cell binding and uptake of TMC-Cys/pEGFP nanocomplexes (TMC-Cys NC) were enhanced 2.4-3.0 and 1.4-3.0 folds, respectively, compared to TMC/pEGFP nanocomplexes (TMC NC). pEGFP could be easily released from TMC-Cys NC at the intracellular glutathione concentration, which promoted its nuclear transport and accumulation. Consequently, TMC-Cys NC showed a 1.4 to 3.2-fold increase in the transfection efficiency in HEK293 cells as compared to TMC NC and the optimal TMC-Cys(100,30) NC showed a 1.5-fold enhancement than Lipofectamine2000. Such results were further confirmed by in vivo transfection with a 2.3-fold and 4.1-fold higher transfection efficiency of TMC-Cys(100,30) NC than TMC(100,30) NC and Lipofectamine2000, respectively. Therefore, TMC-Cys/DNA nanocomplexes could be a promising gene delivery system with in vitro and in vivo superiority to Lipofectamine2000.

Zhao X ，Yin L ，Ding J ，Tang C ，Gu S ，Yin C ，Mao Y ... -  《-》

Drug permeability and mucoadhesion properties of thiolated trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles in oral insulin delivery.

Yin L ，Ding J ，He C ，Cui L ，Tang C ，Yin C ... -  《-》

Effects of hydrophobic and hydrophilic modifications on gene delivery of amphiphilic chitosan based nanocarriers.

The structure-activity relationships between hydrophobic and hydrophilic modification on chitosan and resultant physicochemical properties along with performances in dealing with critical gene delivery barriers were investigated through amphiphilic linoleic acid(LA) and poly (β-malic acid) (PMLA) double grafted chitosan (LMC)/plasmid DNA (pDNA) nanocomplexes. LMC polymers with various LA and PMLA substitution degrees were synthesized and their hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity was characterized. Compared to chitosan, LMC nanoparticles retained the pDNA binding ability at pH 5.5 when they formed nanocomplexes with pDNA encoding enhanced green fluorescence protein (pEGFP) and the resultant complexes showed diameters below 300 nm. Hydrophobic LA and hydrophilic PMLA substitution contributed to suppressed non-specific adsorption, reduced interactions inside LMC/pDNA nanocomplexes, and enhanced pDNA dissociation. However, enzymatic degradation resistance, cell adsorption, and cellular uptake through clathrin-mediated pathway were promoted by hydrophobic LA grafting while being inhibited by hydrophilic PMLA substitution. In vitro transfection assay suggested the optimal LMC/pEGFP nanocomplexes mediated an 8.0-fold improved transfection compared to chitosan/pEGFP nanocomplexes. The 4.2-fold and 2.2-fold higher intramuscular gene expression in mice compared to chitosan/pEGFP and polyethyleneimine (PEI)/pEGFP nanocomplexes further demonstrated the superiority of LMC/pDNA nanocomplexes. Therefore, amphiphilic chitosan derivates with appropriate combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic modification would be promising gene delivery nanocarriers.

Wang B ，He C ，Tang C ，Yin C ... -  《-》

The gene transfection efficiency of thermoresponsive N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan chloride-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) copolymer.

Mao Z ，Ma L ，Yan J ，Yan M ，Gao C ，Shen J ... -  《BIOMATERIALS》

Receptor mediated gene delivery by folate conjugated N-trimethyl chitosan in vitro.

Zheng Y ，Cai Z ，Song X ，Yu B ，Bi Y ，Chen Q ，Zhao D ，Xu J ，Hou S ... -  《-》