Cholic acid-based mixed micelles as siRNA delivery agents for gene therapy

In this study, we demonstrate the use of lipids as co-surfactants for the preparation of mixed micelles to improve the siRNA delivery of cholic acid-based block copolymers. Poly(allyl glycidyl ether) (PAGE) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were polymerized on the surface of cholic acid to afford a star-shaped block copolymer with four arms (CA-PAGE-b-PEG)4. The allyl groups of PAGE were functionalized to bear primary or tertiary amines and folic acid was grafted onto the PEG chain end to increase cell uptake. (CA-PAGE-b-PEG)4 functionalized with either primary or tertiary amines show high siRNA complexation with close to 100% complexation at N/P ratio of 8. Uniform aggregates with diameters between 181 and 188 nm were obtained. DOPE, DSPE-PEG2k, and DSPE-PEG5k lipids were added as co-surfactants to help stabilize the nanoparticles in the cell culture media. Mixed micelles had high siRNA loading with close to 100% functionalization at N/P ratio of 16 and diameters ranging from 153 to 221 nm. The presence of lipids in the mixed micelles improved cell uptake with a concomitant siRNA transfection in HeLa and HeLa-GFP model cells, respectively.Graphical abstract
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research