Issue 21, 2020

Lyophilization enabled disentanglement of polyethylenimine on rambutan-like silica nanoparticles for enhanced plasmid DNA delivery

Abstract

Polyethylenimine (PEI) functionalization onto nanoparticles is a widely used strategy for constructing particulate vectors for gene delivery. However, how to control the conformation of PEI chains and the resultant impact on gene transfection efficiency remains largely unexplored. Herein, we report that drying methods dramatically affect the conformation of PEI chains modified on the surface of silica nanoparticles and consequently the plasmid DNA transfection performance. Specifically, lyophilization renders less entangled PEI compared to commonly used vacuum drying as evidenced by an elevated glass transition temperature. The lyophilization induced disentangled conformation is likely associated with the solid-to-gas phase transition drying mechanism, which removes the bound crystal water content and thus reduces hydrogen bonding between amines. Moreover, we find that the stretched PEI chains on the surface of rambutan-like silica nanoparticles promote their binding capacity towards plasmid DNA molecules and thereby enhanced gene delivery and transfection efficiency. Our findings have provided new understanding about amine based polymers modified on nanoparticles, and have significant implications on the design of efficient particulate vectors for gene delivery.

Graphical abstract: Lyophilization enabled disentanglement of polyethylenimine on rambutan-like silica nanoparticles for enhanced plasmid DNA delivery

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 mar 2020
Accepted
27 apr 2020
First published
28 apr 2020

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020,8, 4593-4600

Lyophilization enabled disentanglement of polyethylenimine on rambutan-like silica nanoparticles for enhanced plasmid DNA delivery

J. Geng, H. Song, F. Gao, Y. Kong, J. Fu, J. Luo, Y. Yang and C. Yu, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020, 8, 4593 DOI: 10.1039/D0TB00720J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements