Molecules, Vol. 23, Pages 1586: The Mechanism for siRNA Transmembrane Assisted by PMAL

Molecules, Vol. 23, Pages 1586: The Mechanism for siRNA Transmembrane Assisted by PMAL
Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules23071586
Authors:
Yanfei Lu
Jipeng Li
Nan Su
Diannan Lu

The capacity of silencing genes makes small interfering RNA (siRNA) appealing for curing fatal diseases. However, the naked siRNA is vulnerable to and degraded by endogenous enzymes and is too large and too negatively charged to cross cellular membranes. An effective siRNA carrier, PMAL (poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-decene) substituted with 3-(dimethylamino) propylamine), has been demonstrated to be able to assist siRNA transmembrane by both experiments and molecular simulation. In the present work, the mechanism of siRNA transmembrane assisted by PMAL was studied using steered molecular dynamics simulations based on the martini coarse-grained model. Here two pulling rates, i.e., 10−6 and 10−5 nm·ps−1, were chosen to imitate the passive and active transport of siRNA, respectively. Potential of mean force (PMF) and interactions among siRNA, PMAL, and lipid bilayer membrane were calculated to describe the energy change during siRNA transmembrane processes at various conditions. It is shown that PMAL-assisted siRNA delivery is in the mode of passive transport. The PMAL can help siRNA insert into lipid bilayer membrane by lowering the energy barrier caused by siRNA and lipid bilayer membrane. PMAL prefers to remain in the lipid bilayer mem...

Source: Molecules - June 29, 2018 Category: Chemistry Authors: Yanfei Lu Jipeng Li Nan Su Diannan Lu Tags: Article Source Type: research