Cationic liposomes have been actively used as gene delivery vehicle because of their minimal toxicity, but their relatively low efficiency of gene delivery is the major disadvantage of these vectors. Recently, cysteine residue incorporation to HIV-1 Tat peptide increased liposomemediated transfection compared with unmodified Tat peptide. Therefore, we designed a novel modified Tat peptide havin...

Commercially available lipid-based transfection reagents are widely used to deliver DNA to cells. However, these lipid-based transfection reagents show poor gene transfer efficiency in primary cells. Here, we demonstrate a simple method to improve gene transfer efficiency in primary fibroblasts and hepatoblasts using a combination of lipid-based transfection reagents. Our data show that combine...

The development of gene delivery vectors with high efficiency and biocompatibility is one of the critical points of gene therapy. Two biodegradable poly(amino ester)s were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization between low molecular weight (LMW) PEI and diepoxide. The molecular weights of poly(amino ester)s were measured by GPC. Agarose gel retardation assays showed that these materials ha...

The safe, targeted and effective delivery of gene therapeutics remains a significant barrier to their broad clinical application. Here we develop a magnetic nucleic acid delivery system composed of iron oxide nanoparticles and cationic lipid-like materials termed lipidoids. Coated nanoparticles are capable of delivering DNA and siRNA to cells in culture. The mean hydrodynamic size of these nano...

A family of branched polyrotaxanes (bPRTx(+)), threaded with multiple cationic α-cyclodextrins (α-CDs) onto a multi-armed poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) core, were synthesized and studied as gene silencing vectors. These bPRTx(+) formed stable, positively charged complexes with diameters of 150-250 nm at N/P ratios as low as 2.5. The bPRTx(+) materials were shown to have gene-silencing efficiencie...

Efficient target gene delivery into eukaryotic cells is important for biotechnological research and gene therapy. Gene delivery based on proteins, including histones, has recently emerged as a powerful non-viral DNA transfer technique. Here, we investigated the potential use of a recombinant mussel adhesive protein, hybrid fp-151, as a gene delivery material, in view of its similar basic amino ...

Using the lipofection reagent LipofectAMINE 2000 we have examined the delivery of plasmid DNA (5-200 kb) to mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells by flow cytometry. To follow the physical uptake of lipoplexes we labeled DNA molecules with the fluorescent dye TOTO-1. In parallel, expression of an EGFP reporter cassette in constructs of different sizes was used as a measure of nuclear delivery. The ce...

The purpose of this study was to develop a platform transfection technology, for applications in the brain, which could transfect astrocytes without requiring cell specific functionalization and without the common cause of toxicity through high charge density. Here we show that a simple and scalable preparation technique can be used to produce a "knot" structured cationic polymer, where single ...

The whole length of MCHR2 gene cDNA fragment was amplified by PCR using human fetal brain cDNA library as template. The pcDNA3.1 (+)/MCHR2 eukaryotic expression vector was constructed successfully. The recombinant pcDNA3.1 (+)/MCHR2 plasmid was transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell by lipofectamine 2000, after G418 selection and then the CHO cell line expressing MCHR2 gene was estab...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are potentially attractive candidates for cancer therapy. However, their therapeutic application is limited by lack of availability of an efficient delivery system to stably deliver these potent molecules intracellularly to cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells. We developed a novel aptamer-hybrid nanoparticle bioconjugate delivery system to selectively deliver miRNA-29b ...