A polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) micelle-based siRNA delivery system was developed for treatment of cancer. A PEGylated siRNA targeting human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF) was synthesized. The hVEGF expression was almost completely inhibited in vitro as well as in vivo by treating prostate cancer cells with the PEC micelles formed from the interaction between the conjugate and polye...

Non-viral gene carriers composed of biodegradable polymers or lipids have been considered as a safer alternative for gene carriers over viral vectors. We have developed multi-functional nano-micelles for both drug and gene delivery application. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was modified by grafting stearic acid (SA) and formulated to polymeric micelles (PEI-SA) with positive surface charge for gene a...

Activation of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in photodynamic therapy (PDT) can lead to the recurrence and progression of tumors. To enhance the effects of PDT, it is essential to inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway involved in EMT progression. Herein, we used polyethylene glycol-polyethyleneimine-chlorin e6 (PEG-PEI-Ce6) nanoparticles to efficiently deliver Wnt-1 small i...

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) can be used to suppress gene expression, thereby providing a new avenue for the treatment of various diseases. However, the successful implementation of siRNA therapy requires the use of delivery platforms that can overcome the major challenges of siRNA delivery, such as enzymatic degradation, low intracellular uptake and lysosomal entrapment. Here, a protocol for ...

Objective(s): P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an efflux protein, the overexpression of which has been associated with multidrug resistance in various cancers. Although siRNA delivery to reverse P-gp expression may be promising for sensitizing of tumor cells to cytotoxic drugs, the therapeutic use of siRNA requires effective carriers that can deliver siRNA intracellularly with minimal toxicity on targe...

objective: dna vaccines have been widely used to develop immunity against various pathogens including parasites and viruses. the potential of dna vaccine to induce an effective immune response is related to the expression levels of the encoded protein in eukaryotic cells. therefore, optimization of plasmid dna delivery system is a major concern in protein expression in order to make an efficien...

RNA interference (RNAi)-based strategies that mediate the specific knockdown of target genes by administration of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) could be applied for treatment of presently incurable neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. However, inefficient delivery of siRNA into neurons hampers in vivo application of RNAi. We have previously established the 4-12 kDa branched...

BACKGROUND Gene therapy has gained an increasing interest in its anti-tumor efficiency. However, numerous efforts are required to promote them to clinics. In this study, a novel and efficient delivery platform based on bacterial magnetosomes (BMs) were developed, and the efficiency of BMs in delivering small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) as well as antiproliferative effects in vitro were...

Small interfering RNA molecules (siRNA) hold great promise to specifically target cytoprotective factors to enhance cancer therapy. Like antisense RNA strategies, however, the use of siRNA is limited because of in vivo instability. As a first step to overcome delivery issues, a series of graft copolymers of polyethylene glycol and polyethylenimine (PEI-g-PEG) were synthesized and investigated a...

The high transfection efficiency of polyethylenimine (PEI) makes it an attractive potential nonviral genetic vector for gene delivery and therapy. However, the highly positive charge of PEI leads to cytotoxicity and limits its application. To reduce the cytotoxicity of PEI, we prepared anion-enriched nanoparticles that combined PEI with tripolyphosphate (TPP). We then characterized the PEI-TPP ...