title: Surfactant effect on the physicochemical characteristics of cationic solid lipid nanoparticles.
abstract: Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) may be considered as a new approach for therapeutics for many diseases. In addition to drug delivery, their use as non-viral vectors for gene delivery can be obtained by including cationic lipids, which provide a positive surface potential that favors binding to the nucleic acids as DNA, siRNA, miRNA, etc. In fact, the addition of cationic surfactants is indispensable for obtaining nanoparticles with surface positive charge. In this study, three different cationic lipids (dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, cetylpyridinium chloride) and Brij 76 as nonionic surfactant were employed to formulate Precirol ATO 5 based cSLN using pEGFP-LUC as model plasmid. The physicochemical properties of cSLN were influenced by both type and amount of surfactants. Thermal analyses of bulk cSLN showed endothermic peaks significantly different from the ones of the single pure components, hinting a complete entanglement of the lipid matrix with the surfactants and justifying the different behavior of the cSLN in the ability to interact with the plasmid DNA. Finally, the biocompatibility of cSLN was demonstrated by hemolytic assays. These results may give an insight into the choice of surfactants in order to obtain non-toxic and highly effective delivery systems for gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Polimeri Biocompatibili, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botto
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Polimeri Biocompatibili, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicolò
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Polimeri Biocompatibili, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.affiliation: Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati (ISMN), CNR, U.O.S. Palermo, via Ugo La Malfa, 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martorana
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Polimeri Biocompatibili, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giammona
authors.affiliation: Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati (ISMN), CNR, U.O.S. Palermo, via Ugo La Malfa, 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: marialuisa.bondi@ismn.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bondì
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations; D000077286:Cetrimonium; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002594:Cetylpyridinium / Q000737:chemistry; D004247:DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004075:Diglycerides / Q000737:chemistry; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010957:Plasmids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds; D004075:Diglycerides; D008055:Lipids; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; C015831:dimethyldioctadecylammonium; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C043444:octadecyl polyoxyethylene ether; D004247:DNA; D002594:Cetylpyridinium; D008156:Luciferases; C009032:precirol; D000077286:Cetrimonium
keywords: Cationic solid lipid nanoparticles; Characterization; Gene delivery; Nanocarriers; Surfactant