EFFICIENT DELIVERY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS BY USING MODIFIED POLYETHYLENIMINE-BASED NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

Branched polyethylenimine, (b PEI, 25 kDa), was converted into nanoparticles by using three different crosslinkers, 1,6-hexanebisphosphate (HP), adipic acid (AA), and 1,4-butane dialdehyde (BA), having same carbon chain length (C-6), and the effect of ionic and covalent crosslinking on the transfection efficiency was studied. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by 1H-NMR, IR, DLS, AFM, and TEM. The entire series of nanoparticles was tested for their toxicity and ability to deliver genes in COS-1 and CHO cell lines. It was observed that, AAP-3 nanoparticle/DNA complex exhibited highest transfection efficiency (~2.1–10.7 folds) than the native PEI and commercially available transfection reagents, such as GenePORTER 2TM, LipofectamineTM, and SuperfectTM, with cell viability >80%. Among the series, the highest cell viability was observed with BAP nanoparticles (>96%). These nanoparticles were able to deliver GFP-siRNA very efficiently inside the cells with ~76%–90% suppression of EGFP expression. Cellular trafficking studies showed that these nanoparticles carry pDNA inside the nucleus of the cells within 2 h of the addition to the cells.