pH-induced fabrication of DNA/chitosan/alpha-ZrP nanocomposite and DNA release.
With positively charged chitosan as an intermediary, herring sperm DNA was intercalated into the interlayer galleries of negatively charged alpha-ZrP to form DNA/chitosan/alpha-ZrP ternary hybrids at pH 5.5. Fourier-transform IR, x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirmed not only the coexistence of DNA, chitosan and alpha-ZrP in the composite but also the layered composite structure with an interlayer distance of 4.25 nm. Circular dichroism (CD) and UV spectroscopic studies disclosed that the restraint of DNA by the layered alpha-ZrP favors stabilization of the double-helical conformation of DNA and enhances the denaturation temperature. The intercalated DNA can be effectively released from the ternary nanocomposites at pHs higher than 6.5, and the released DNA displayed a similar CD spectrum to that of free DNA. The current research displays the promising potential to obtain a non-viral gene vector by intercalating DNA into negatively charged inorganic layered materials in the presence of a positively charged intermediary.
State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China.
Limin
L
Liu
Hai-Tang
HT
Zhang
Bo
B
Shen
Weijiang
W
He
Yuge
Y
Liu
Guo-Yuan
GY
Lu
Jun-Jie
JJ
Zhu
D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D004247:DNA; D048271:Chitosan