Evaluation of cationic liposomes composed of an amino acid-based lipid for neuronal transfection.
We investigated the ability of cationic liposomes composed of 1,5-dihexadecyl N-arginyl-L-glutamate (Arg-Glu2C(16)) to carry nucleic acids into neuronal cells. Such liposomes have been shown to have a remarkable capacity for transfecting immortalized cell lines. Lipoplexes between the Arg-Glu2C(16) liposomes and plasmid DNA encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) were analyzed in terms of lipoplex formation, intracellular DNA trafficking, transfection efficiency, and cytotoxicity in neuronal SH-SY5Y cells. A maximum number of cells expressing GFP was obtained with lipoplexes at a lipid-to-DNA ratio of 15. With these lipoplexes, 16% of the cells were GFP-positive, which was approximately fourfold higher than the level obtained with a commercially available transfection reagent, Lipofectamine 2000. Furthermore, as a result of the low cytotoxicity of the Arg-Glu2C(16) lipoplexes, the proportion of GFP-positive cells could be increased to 25% by increasing the concentration of lipoplexes that was applied to the cells. We have demonstrated that Arg-Glu2C(16), as a model cationic amino acid-based lipid, has a high capability as a gene carrier, even for neuronal transfection.


BACKGROUND
In this study, specific cationic liposomes were characterized as nucleic acid transfection agents for neuronal cells. A fourfold higher transfection rate with low cytotoxicity was reported compared to Lipofectamine 2000, a commercial reagent. The authors conclude that the studied cationic liposomes have a high capability as a gene carrier for neuronal transfection. This may become clinically significant in future gene therapy efforts of neuronal diseases.
Obata
Yosuke
Y
Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, TWIns, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
Ciofani
Gianni
G
Raffa
Vittoria
V
Cuschieri
Alfred
A
Menciassi
Arianna
A
Dario
Paolo
P
Takeoka
Shinji
S
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002412:Cations; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*
D000596:Amino Acids; D001798:Blood Proteins; D002412:Cations; D008055:Lipids; D008081:Liposomes; D002738:Chloroquine; D004247:DNA