title: Lipid nanocapsules functionalized with polyethyleneimine for plasmid DNA and drug co-delivery and cell imaging.
abstract: The paper reports on the preparation of lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) functionalized with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) moieties and their successful use as drug and gene delivery systems. The cationic LNCs were produced by a phase inversion process with a nominal size of 25 nm and subsequently modified with PEI chains using a transacylation reaction. The functionalization process allowed good control over the nanoscale particle size (26.2 ± 3.9 nm) with monodisperse size characteristics (PI < 0.2) and positive surface charge up to +18.7 mV. The PEI-modified LNCs (LNC25-T) displayed good buffering capacity. Moreover, the cationic LNC25-T were able to condense DNA and form complexes via electrostatic interactions in a typical weight ratio-dependent relationship. It was found that the mean diameter of LNC25-T/pDNA complexes increased to ∼40-50 nm with the LNC25-T/pDNA ratio from 1 to 500. Gel electrophoresis and cell viability experiments showed that the LNC25-T/pDNA complexes had high stability with no cytotoxicity due to the anchored PEI polymers on the surface of LNCs. Finally, the transfection efficiency of the LNC25-T/pDNA complexes was studied and evaluated on HEK cell lines in comparison with free PEI/pDNA polyplexes. The combination of cationic LNCs with pDNA exhibited more than a 2.8-fold increase in transfection efficiency compared to the standard free PEI/pDNA polyplexes at the same PEI concentrations. Moreover, we have demonstrated that LNC25-T/pDNA loaded with a hydrophobic drug, paclitaxel, showed high drug efficacy. The high transfection efficiency combined with the potential of simultaneous co-delivery of hydrophobic drugs, relatively small size of LNC25-T/pDNA complexes, and fluorescence imaging can be crucial for gene therapy, as small particle sizes may be more favorable for in vivo studies.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire (IRI, USR CNRS 3078), Parc de la Haute Borne, 50 Avenue de Halley, BP 70478, 59658 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. rabah.boukherroub@iri.univ-lille1.fr.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Skandrani
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barras
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.forename: Tijani
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gharbi
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boulahdour
authors.forename: Rabah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boukherroub
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D010316:Particle Size; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism*; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000737:chemistry*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004337:Drug Carriers; D008055:Lipids; D053769:Nanocapsules; D011094:Polyethyleneimine; D017239:Paclitaxel