Plasmid-DNA Delivery by Covalently Functionalized PEI-SPIONs as a Potential ‘Magnetofection’ Agent

Stein R, Pfister F, Friedrich B, Blersch PR, Unterweger H, Arkhypov A, Mokhir A, Kolot M, Alexiou C, Tietze R (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Molecules MDPI

Book Volume: 27

Article Number: 7416

Journal Issue: 21

DOI: 10.3390/molecules27217416

Abstract

Nanoformulations for delivering nucleotides into cells as vaccinations as well as treatment of various diseases have recently gained great attention. Applying such formulations for a local treatment strategy, e.g., for cancer therapy, is still a challenge, for which improved delivery concepts are needed. Hence, this work focuses on the synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for a prospective “magnetofection” application. By functionalizing SPIONs with an active catechol ester (CafPFP), polyethyleneimine (PEI) was covalently bound to their surface while preserving the desired nanosized particle properties with a hydrodynamic size of 86 nm. When complexed with plasmid-DNA (pDNA) up to a weight ratio of 2.5% pDNA/Fe, no significant changes in particle properties were observed, while 95% of the added pDNA was strongly bound to the SPION surface. The transfection in A375-M cells for 48 h with low amounts (10 ng) of pDNA, which carried a green fluorescent protein (GFP) sequence, resulted in a transfection efficiency of 3.5%. This value was found to be almost 3× higher compared to Lipofectamine (1.2%) for such low pDNA amounts. The pDNA-SPION system did not show cytotoxic effects on cells for the tested particle concentrations and incubation times. Through the possibility of additional covalent functionalization of the SPION surface as well as the PEI layer, Caf-PEI-SPIONs might be a promising candidate as a magnetofection agent in future.

Authors with CRIS profile

René Stein Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Felix Pfister Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Bernhard Friedrich Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Pascal-Raphael Blersch Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Harald Unterweger Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Anton Arkhypov Lehrstuhl für Organische Chemie II Andriy Mokhir Professur für Organische Chemie Christoph Alexiou Medizinische Fakultät Rainer Tietze Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

Involved external institutions

Tel Aviv University IL Israel (IL)

How to cite

APA:

Stein, R., Pfister, F., Friedrich, B., Blersch, P.-R., Unterweger, H., Arkhypov, A.,... Tietze, R. (2022). Plasmid-DNA Delivery by Covalently Functionalized PEI-SPIONs as a Potential ‘Magnetofection’ Agent. Molecules, 27(21). https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules27217416

MLA:

Stein, René, et al. "Plasmid-DNA Delivery by Covalently Functionalized PEI-SPIONs as a Potential ‘Magnetofection’ Agent." Molecules 27.21 (2022).

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