Gene Transfer Potential of a Lipofuscin Fluorophore, A2E

Publication date: 2015 Source:Materials Today: Proceedings, Volume 2, Issue 1 Author(s): Susana Machado , Liji Raju , Michael D. Pungente Cationic lipids are promising, potentially safer cellular delivery carriers of therapeutic nucleic acids compared to the more effective viral vectors. The key to improving the effectiveness of non-viral agents is unlocking the still unsolved mechanism behind lipid gene delivery. Important considerations for the development of new delivery agents are enhanced uptake efficiency, low toxicity and traceability. Our objective was to assay the DNA complexation and in vitro delivery efficiency of the naturally occurring lipofuscin fluorophore, A2E, against novel synthetic A2E-like analogues, A1 and A15 in an effort to gain structure- function insight. Furthermore, we utilized the red fluorescent emission associated with A2E and A15 using confocal imaging to visualize co-localization of these lipids with a green emitting, FITC-labeled siRNA. These results were contrasted with the non- fluorescent analogue, A1.
Source: Materials Today: Proceedings - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research