Interactions in DNA Condensation: An Important Factor for Improving the Efficacy of Gene Transfection

Abstract

The rapid developments of gene therapy are benefit from the construction of efficient gene vectors, which help therapy genes efficiently overcome the barriers in the transport and transfection. Condensing DNA into nanoparticles is a crucial role in gene transfection, and the electrostatic interactions of synthetic cationic liposomes and cationic polymers with DNA are generally used for condensing DNA. Recent research has shown that the introduction of the hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and coordinative interactions to the gene delivery vectors is also very important for DNA condensation, delivery, and transfection. This review focuses on the four types of interactions in condensed DNA nanoparticles, which could provide a new perspective for improving gene transfection efficacy.

ROS‐Responsive Polymeric siRNA Nanomedicine Stabilized by Triple Interactions for the Robust Glioblastoma Combinational RNAi Therapy

“…Thus, we hypothesized that if we incorporated both the Gu + /PO 4− salt bridge and a hydrophobic interaction in the formulation of polymeric siRNA nanomedicines, the resultant “triple‐interaction”‐stabilized siRNA nanomedicines could be expected to demonstrate superior stability. To date, there are mainly four types of interactions (electrostatic, hydrogen bond, hydrophobic, and coordinative) utilized for nucleic acid condensation, and to the best of our knowledge, no nanocarrier has yet combined three or all interaction types to improve the in vivo stability of siRNA nanomedicines.…”

Biopolymer‐based Carriers for DNA Vaccine Design

“…[174,175] Another strategy to enable condensation is the use of coordinating multivalent metals cations that can bind to phosphate groups or nucleobases. [176,177] Zinc ions have been employed to aid the interaction between phosphate groups of DNAa nd two different biopolymeric species,h istidineconjugated PLL [178] and dipicolylamine-modified HA, [179] but there is definite scope for use of other ions,particularly those that might be helpful adjuvants,i ncluding nickel, beryllium, cobalt, and palladium. [180] In addition to being an excellent coordinating ion, incorporation of zinc ions via histidine has been shown to increase endosomal release increasing the rate of transfection.…”

Non‐viral nucleic acid delivery to the central nervous system and brain tumors

“…By contrast to physical methods, chemical methods involve packing gene molecules with chemical vectors and then delivering the gene molecules into the CNS. Gene packing can be achieved using several patterns, such as electrostatically combining anionic gene molecules with positively charged vectors, introducing hydrophobic moieties to condense gene molecules, enhancing the interaction between the vectors and gene molecules by a hydrogen bond or coordination bond, wrapping gene molecules into biodegradable polymers, or adsorbing gene molecules on the surface of vectors. Furthermore, the ideal vectors utilized in CNS gene delivery must possess certain characteristics: (i) the masking of negative charges of gene molecules, thus facilitating cellular uptake; (ii) the compression of gene molecules to make them smaller, achieving excellent biofilm permeability in vivo ; (iii) the protection of gene molecules from enzymatic degradation; (iv) the efficient release of gene molecules after endocytosis; and (e) the overcoming of biological barriers, such as BBB.…”