Abstract
The solution behavior and physicochemical characteristics of polymer–colloid complexes based on cationic imidazolium amphiphile with a dodecyl tail (IA-12) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) or DNA decamer (oligonucleotide) were evaluated using tensiometry, conductometry, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering and fluorescent spectroscopy and microscopy. It has been established that PAA addition to the surfactant system resulted in a ca. 200-fold decrease in the aggregation threshold of IA-12, with the hydrodynamic diameter of complexes ranging within 100–150 nm. Electrostatic forces are assumed to be the main driving force in the formation of IA-12/PAA complexes. Factors influencing the efficacy of the complexation of IA-12 with oligonucleotide were determined. The nonconventional mode of binding with the involvement of hydrophobic interactions and the intercalation mechanism is probably responsible for the IA-12/oligonucleotide complexation, and a minor contribution of electrostatic forces occurred. The latter was supported by zeta potential measurements and the gel electrophoresis technique, which demonstrated the low degree of charge neutralization of the complexes. Importantly, cellular uptake of the IA-12/oligonucleotide complex was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry data on the example of M-HeLa cells. While single IA-12 samples exhibit roughly similar cytotoxicity, IA-12–oligonucleotide complexes show a selective effect toward M-HeLa cells (IC50 1.1 µM) compared to Chang liver cells (IC50 23.1 µM).
Highlights
Interactions between oppositely charged surfactants and synthetic polyelectrolytes are currently the focus of modern research [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Inflection points in surface-tension isotherms are usually taken as the critical micelle concentration (CMC) or the critical association concentration (CAC)
Complexation in mixed systems based on imidazolium amphiphile IA-12 and poly- or oligomeric anions of synthetic and natural origin was demonstrated
Summary
Interactions between oppositely charged surfactants and synthetic polyelectrolytes are currently the focus of modern research [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The fabrication of complexes can be mediated by different mechanisms, including the hydrophobic effect, van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonding, with the contribution of dominating electrostatic interactions [10,11,12,13] For these reasons, mixtures of polyelectrolytes and oppositely charged surfactants are characterized by the complicated behavior of solutions [14,15,16]. The addition of a high-molecular-weight component can change the aggregation thresholds of the the interaction of cationic amphiphiles with natural polymers such as DNA, prot so on [7,21,22,23] This is of importance in gene therapy [24,25] because the appli naked DNA molecules is complicated due to their huge size, the electrostatic r between nucleotides and negatively charged cell membranes and the immune r observed [26]. Efficient transfection can be achieved using optimized of polynucleotides, which allow compacting large DNA molecules and rechargi
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