title: Efficient Nonviral Gene Therapy Using Folate-Targeted Chitosan-DNA Nanoparticles In Vitro.
abstract: Nonviral cationic polymers like chitosan can be combined with DNA to protect it from degradation. The chitosan is a biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, and cheap polycationic polymer with low immunogenicity. The objective of this study was to synthesize and then assess different chitosan-DNA nanoparticles and to select the best ones for selective in vitro transfection in human epidermoid carcinoma (KB) cell lines. It revealed that different combinations of molecular weight, the presence or absence of folic acid ligand, and different plasmid DNA sizes can lead to nanoparticles with various diameters and diverse transfection efficiencies. The intracellular trafficking, nuclear uptake, and localization are also studied by confocal microscopy, which confirmed that DNA was delivered to cell nuclei to be expressed.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedics Research Laboratory, Research Center, Sacré-Coeur Hospital, University of Montreal, 5400 West Gouin Boulevard, Montreal, QC, Canada H4J 1C5.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jreyssaty
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Huijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xingping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Françoise M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Winnik
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kerong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benderdour
authors.forename: Julio C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fernandes