Efficient in vitro gene therapy with PEG siRNA lipid nanocapsules for passive targeting strategy in melanoma.

The objective of this work consists in formulating and optimizing the encapsulation of siRNA into lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) for efficient gene therapy on melanoma cells. SiRNA LNCs were prepared from DOTAP/DOPE lipoplexes, and the siRNA dose and lipid/siRNA charge ratio were assayed to improve the stability and encapsulation yield. Cryo-TEM imaging of the siRNA lipoplexes and LNC morphology revealed a specific organization of the siRNA DOTAP/DOPE lipoplexes as well as specific lipid microstructures. No cytotoxicity of the siRNA LNCs against the melanoma SK-Mel28 cell line was observed at concentrations of up to 500 ng/mL siRNA and in vitro siRNA transfection experiments, compared to oligofectamine, demonstrated interesting target gene silence effects. Finally, complement activation assays confirmed the feasibility of the PEGylation of siRNA LNCs as part of a passive targeting strategy for future melanoma in vitro experiments and metastasis targeting. PMID: 25262914 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Biotechnology Journal - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tags: Biotechnol J Source Type: research