title: Ferrocene-containing cationic lipids for the delivery of DNA: oxidation state determines transfection activity.
abstract: The ability of two redox-active, ferrocene-containing cationic lipids [11-(ferrocenylundecyl)trimethylammonium bromide (FTMA) and bis(11-ferrocenylundecyl)dimethylammonium bromide (BFDMA)] to transfect mammalian cells was investigated. This study sought to determine the range of conditions over which these lipids were capable of transfecting cells and whether the oxidation state of the ferrocenyl groups in these materials could be used to influence the extent of transfection. Experiments conducted in the COS-7 cell line demonstrated that reduced and oxidized FTMA were substantially cytotoxic and did not transfect cells. Subsequent experiments conducted using BFDMA and reporter plasmids encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and firefly luciferase demonstrated that BFDMA was able to transfect cells. However, the extent of transfection depended significantly upon both the concentration of BFDMA and the oxidation state of the lipid. Quantitative characterization of cytotoxicity and gene expression demonstrated that a window of concentration existed over which reduced BFDMA was non-cytotoxic and yielded high levels of transfection, but over which electrochemically oxidized BFDMA yielded very low (background) levels of transfection. Characterization of lipoplexes using dynamic light scattering demonstrated that reduced and oxidized BFDMA formed small aggregates (ca. 90 to 250nm) at concentrations of lipid ranging from 2 to 10 microM. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the oxidation state of BFDMA, which can be controlled electrochemically, can be used to control the extent of cell transfection. These results could form the basis of transfection procedures that exploit the redox behavior of ferrocene-containing lipids to achieve active spatial and temporal control over transfection using electrochemical methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1607, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.forename: Melissa E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: Yukishige
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Nicholas L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lynn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008027:Light; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly; D000075163:Metallocenes; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D008055:Lipids; D000075163:Metallocenes; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; C505027:bis-(11-ferrocenylundecyl)dimethylammonium bromide; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D004247:DNA; C073015:(11-ferrocenylundecyl)trimethylammonium; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly; C004998:ferrocene