Metal-polybenzimidazole complexes as a nonviral gene carrier: Effects of the DNA affinity on gene delivery.

Metal-polybenzimidazole complexes as a nonviral gene carrier: Effects of the DNA affinity on gene delivery. J Inorg Biochem. 2013 Sep 18;129C:102-111 Authors: Huang X, Dong X, Li X, Meng X, Zhang D, Liu C Abstract The metal complex-based carriers are emerging likely as a new type of gene-delivery systems prone to systematic structural alteration and chemical tailoring. In our work, the DNA affinity of metal complexes with polybenzimidazoles was found to be one of the determinants that can regulate expression of the transgenes. Here, the correlations between the DNA affinity and transfection efficacy were explored by characterizing gene-delivering properties of a series of Co(2+)- and Ca(2+)-polybenzimidazole complexes. The binding equilibrium constants (Kobs) of the divalent metal complexes to DNA, which is considered as a measure of the DNA affinity of metal complexes, were evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and UV-visible absorption titration. The properties of DNA condensates formed with the metal complexes including sizes, ΞΆ potential and morphology were observed to be altered with Kobs values. The monodispersed spherical condensates were found only for the Ca(2+) complexes whose DNA affinity is weaker than that of the Co(2+) complexes. However, the cell internalization examination indicated that cell uptake of the DNA condensates is independent of homogeneity in their sizes and morphology. The comparison of transgene exp...
Source: Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: J Inorg Biochem Source Type: research