Bis-quaternary ammonium gemini surfactants for gene therapy: Effects of the spacer hydrophobicity on the DNA complexation and biological activity

Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020Source: Colloids and Surfaces B: BiointerfacesAuthor(s): Delvis R. Acosta-Martínez, Eustolia Rodríguez-Velázquez, Fernanda Araiza-Verduzco, Pablo Taboada, Gerardo Prieto, Ignacio A. Rivero, Georgina Pina-Luis, Manuel Alatorre-MedaABSTRACTGemini surfactants (GS) have been highlighted as attractive gene carriers for a few years now; however, key aspects of the role of the GS chemical structure on the DNA-GS complexation and subsequent biological activity remain to be determined. Aiming to elucidate the effects of the GS spacer hydrophobicity, this work was focused on the biophysical characterization of the self-assembly, DNA complexation, cytocompatibility, and DNA transfection of a series of bis-quaternary ammonium GS with fixed side alkyl chains of 14 carbons and varying head-to-head alkyl chain spacers of 4, 6, and 14 carbons (referred to as GS4, GS6, and GS14, respectively). The characterization was carried out by a battery of experimental techniques including UV-vis, and fluorescence sprectroscopies, ζ potential, dynamic light scattering (DLS), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and flow cytometry, among others. Overall, the spectroscopic results showed that the self-assembly of the GS was favored with the spacer hydrophobicity since lower values of critical micelle concentration (CMC) were observed for samples with longer spacer chains. On the other hand, the ITC results revealed that the DNA-GS complexation was d...
Source: Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research