Amylose-Based Cationic Star Polymers for siRNA Delivery

Abstract

A new siRNA delivery system using a cationic glyco-star polymer is described. Spermine-modified 8-arm amylose star polymer (with a degree of polymerization of approximately 60 per arm) was synthesized by chemoenzymatic methods. The cationic star polymer effectively bound to siRNA and formed spherical complexes with an average hydrodynamic diameter of 230 nm. The cationic 8-arm star polymer complexes showed superior cellular uptake characteristics and higher gene silencing effects than a cationic 1-arm polymer. These results suggest that amylose-based star polymers are a promising nanoplatform for glycobiomaterials.

Magnetic Cationic Amylose Nanoparticles Used to Deliver Survivin-Small Interfering RNA for Gene Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Vitro

“…Nanoparticles larger than 200 nm can be rapidly removed by the reticuloendotheliaol system [ 22 ]. The size of the cationic amylose nanoparticle is less than that of amylose-based cationic star polymers (average diameter: 234 ± 0.8 nm) [ 13 ] and polythyleneimine-polyethylene glycol (PEI-PEG)-based complexes (average diameter: 206 ± 1.9 nm) for siRNA delivery [ 23 ]. The relatively small size of the cationic amylose nanoparticles might be more favorable for tumor gene therapy, as they could be more slowly eliminated from blood circulation.…”

“…These results confirm the specific uptake of nanocomplexes mediated by FA. It is noted that only 30 min incubation time was needed for siRNA transfection, which is much shorter than that of 4–48 h reported for using other polymeric vectors in order to transfer siRNA into cells [ 13 , 23 ]. This suggests a high transfection efficiency of the SPIO-loaded cationic amylose nanoparticles.…”

“…The delivery of siRNA via FA-CA-SPIO caused significant decrease of the mRNA expression of survivin. The gene silencing effect of FA-CA-SPIO/Sur is close to another amylose-based cationic star polymers (34% of control mRNA level) [ 13 ]. The survivin gene suppression effect was further assessed by Western blot analysis.…”

“…Amylose can be modified by substituting the hydroxides with quaternary ammonium salt to increase its solubility and enzymatic digestibility in order to meet the requirements of gene delivery. As a nanocarrier backbone, amylose has been constructed into a variety of vehicles for controllable drug and gene delivery, such as flufenamic acid, testosterone, caffeine [ 9 ], curcumin, indomethacin [ 10 ], image labels [ 11 ], therapeutic DNA [ 12 ], and RNA [ 13 ]. Further modification with a targeted moiety can significantly increase the active and specific accumulation of the nanovehicle in tumor cells of interest.…”

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles-Complexed Cationic Amylose for In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging Tracking of Transplanted Stem Cells in Stroke

“…Further, it possesses smaller steric hindrance, better flexibility, and higher tensile strength in the physical properties compared with starch [ 20 ]. The amylose itself and its derivatives have been widely applied in biomedical field, especially as delivery carriers for drug [ 21 , 22 , 23 ] and non-viral gene vectors [ 24 , 25 ]. Ideally, amylose could be degraded into glucoses by the glycoside hydrolase existed in lysosomes and eventually reduced to carbon dioxide and water [ 9 ].…”