8 research outputs found

    Stealth monoolein-based nanocarriers for delivery of siRNA to cancer cells

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    While the delivery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is an attractive strategy to treat several clinical con- ditions, siRNA-nanocarriers stability after intravenous administration is still a major obstacle for the development of RNA-interference based therapies. But, although the need for stability is well recognized, the notion that strong stabilization can decrease nanocarriers efficiency is sometimes neglected. In this work we evaluated two stealth functionalization strategies to stabilize the previously validated dioctade- cyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB):monoolein (MO) siRNA-lipoplexes. The nanocarriers were pre- and post-pegylated, forming vectors with different stabilities in biological fluids. The stealth nanocarriers behavior was tested under biological mimetic conditions, as the production of stable siRNA-lipoplexes is determinant to achieve efficient intravenous siRNA delivery to cancer cells. Upon incubation in human serum for 2 h, by fluorescence Single Particle Tracking microscopy, PEG-coated lipo- plexes were found to have better colloidal stability as they could maintain a relatively stable size. In addi- tion, using fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy, post-pegylation also proved to avoid siRNA dissociation from the nanocarriers in human serum. Concomitantly it was found that PEG-coated lipoplexes improved cellular uptake and transfection efficiency in H1299 cells, and had the ability to silence BCR-ABL, affecting the survival of K562 cells. Based on an efficient cellular internalization, good silencing effect, good siRNA retention and good col- loidal stability in human serum, DODAB:MO (2:1) siRNA-lipoplexes coated with PEG-Cer are considered promising nanocarriers for further in vivo validation. Statement of Significance This work describes two stealth functionalization strategies for the stabilization of the previously validated dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB):monoolein (MO) siRNA-lipoplexes. These nanocarriers are capable of efficiently incorporating and delivering siRNA molecules to cells in order to silence genes whose expression is implicated in a pathological condition. The main objective was to functionalize these nanocarriers with a coating conferring protection to siRNA in blood without compromising its efficient delivery to cancer cells, validating the potential of DODAB:MO (2:1) siRNA-lipoplexes as therapeutic vec- tors. We show that the stealth strategy is determinant to achieve a stable and efficient nanocarrier, and that DODAB:MO mixtures have a very promising potential for systemic siRNA delivery to leukemic cells.FEDER through POFC-COMPETE and by national funds from FCT I.P. through the strategic funding UID/BIA/04050/2013 (CBMA) and PEst-C/FIS/UI0607/2013 (CFUM) and PTDC/QUI/69795/2006. We thank the support of the Frame Work Program 7 of the European Commission: BIOCAPS (316265, FP7/REGPOT) and Xunta de Galicia, Spain (Agrupamento INBIOMED, Grupo con potencial crecimiento) reference IF/00498/2012, scholarship SFRH/BD/68588/2010. NanoDelivery-I&D em Bionanotecnologia, Lda. for access to their equipment

    Binding of bovine seminal plasma protein BSP-A1/-A2 to model membranes: Lipid specificity and effect of the temperature

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    AbstractBovine seminal plasma (BSP) contains a family of phospholipid-binding proteins. The affinity of the protein BSP-A1/-A2 for lipid membranes composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), and POPC containing 30% (mol/mol) 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (POPG), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) or cholesterol, has been investigated by the isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). This study confirms the association of these proteins to lipid bilayers, and provides a direct characterization of this exothermic process, at 37 °C. The measurements indicate that the protein affinity for lipid bilayers is modulated by the lipid composition, the lipid/protein ratio, and the temperature. The saturation lipid/protein ratio was increased in the presence of cholesterol and, to a lesser extent, of phosphatidylethanolamine, suggesting that it is modulated by the lipid acyl chain order. For all the investigated systems, the binding of BSP-A1/-A2 could not be modeled using a simple partitioning of the proteins between the aqueous and lipid phases. The existence of "binding sites", and lipid phase separations is discussed. The decrease of temperature, from 37 to 10 °C, converts the exothermic association of the proteins to the POPC bilayers to an endothermic process. A complementary 1-D and 2-D infrared spectroscopy study excludes the thermal denaturation of BSP-A1/-A2 as a contributor in the temperature dependence of the protein affinity for lipid bilayers. The reported findings suggest that changes in the affinity of BSP-A1/-A2 for lipid bilayers could be involved in modulating the association of these proteins to sperm membranes as a function of space and time; this would consequently modulate the extent of lipid extraction, including cholesterol, at a given place and given time

    Survey of the year 2008: applications of isothermal titration calorimetry

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    Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a fast, accurate and label-free method for measuring the thermodynamics and binding affinities of molecular associations in solution. Because the method will measure any reaction that results in a heat change, it is applicable to many different fields of research from biomolecular science, to drug design and materials engineering, and can be used to measure binding events between essentially any type of biological or chemical ligand. ITC is the only method that can directly measure binding energetics including Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy and heat capacity changes. Not only binding thermodynamics but also catalytic reactions, conformational rearrangements, changes in protonation and molecular dissociations can be readily quantified by performing only a small number of ITC experiments. In this review, we highlight some of the particularly interesting reports from 2008 employing ITC, with a particular focus on protein interactions with other proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and drugs. As is tradition in these reviews we have not attempted a comprehensive analysis of all 500 papers using ITC, but emphasize those reports that particularly captured our interest and that included more thorough discussions we consider exemplify the power of the technique and might serve to inspire other users
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