Zhaopei Guo

Formation of Reversible Shell Cross-Linked Micelles from the Biodegradable Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymer Poly(l-cysteine)-block-Poly(l-lactide)

A novel biodegradable diblock copolymer, poly(L-cysteine)-b-poly(L-lactide) (PLC-b-PLLA), was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N-carboxyanhydride of beta-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-cysteine (ZLC-NCA) with amino-terminated poly(L-lactide) (NH 2-PLLA) as a macroinitiator in a convenient way. The diblock copolymer and its precursor were characterized by (1)H NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The length of each block polymer could be tailored by molecular design and the ratios of feeding monomers. The cell adhesion and cell spread on the PZLC-b-PLLA and PLC-b-PLLA films were enhanced compared to those on pure PLA film. PLC-b-PLLA can self-assemble to form micelles in aqueous media. A pyrene probe is used to demonstrate the micelle formation of PLC-b-PLLA in aqueous solution. Due to the ease of disulfide exchange with thiols, the obtained micelles are reversible shell cross-linked (SCL) micelles. The morphology and size of the micelles are studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM).

pH-responsive zwitterionic copolypeptides as charge conversional shielding system for gene carriers.

A novel rapid pH-responssive polymer polyethylenimine-poly(l-lysine)-poly(l-glutamic acid) (PELG) was designed as the shielding system. The zwitterionic copolypeptide PELG with negatively charged at physical pH can act as the shielding system to shield positively charged polyplexes. PELG was used to shield PEI25k/DNA to form ternary polyplex, the polyplex surface zeta potential can change from a negative to positive nearly pH value of 6.9. Because the pH value of tumor extracellular environment is about 6.5, the positive charges on the polyplexes could be restored in tumors, which is beneficial to the electrostatic interactions between positive polyplexes and negative tumor cells, leading to high cell uptake efficiency and high transfection efficiency.

A pH-sensitive charge-conversion system for doxorubicin delivery

A novel pH-sensitive charge-conversion shielding system was designed by the electrostatic binding of polyethylenimine (PEI)-poly(l-lysine)-poly(l-glutamic acid) (PELG), PEI, and cis-aconityl-doxorubicin (CAD). Doxorubicin (DOX) was modified by cis-aconityl linkage to form acid-sensitive CAD, which was then adsorbed by the positively charged PEI. The PEI/CAD complexes were subsequently shielded with the pH-responsive charge-conversion PELG. In normal tissues, the PELG/PEI/CAD complexes were negatively charged; in acidic tumor tissues, the shielding PELG was positively charged and detached from the PELG/PEI/CAD complexes. The resulting positively charged PEI/CAD complexes thus became exposed and were endocytosed. CAD was then cleaved in the acidic intracellular environment of endosomes and lysosomes, and converted back into DOX. The charge reversal of the PELG/PEI/CAD complexes was verified by zeta potential analysis at different pH values. Moreover, DOX release increased with decreasing pH. Cell uptake and confocal laser scanning microscopy analyses showed that, at pH 6.8, PELG/PEI/CAD had the highest endocytosis rate and more DOX entered cell nuclei. More importantly, the system showed remarkable cytotoxicity against cancer cells. These results revealed that the combination of pH-sensitive charge-conversion shielding with pH-sensitive drug release is a potential drug delivery system for tumor treatment.

Production and clinical development of nanoparticles for gene delivery

Gene therapy is a promising strategy for specific treatment of numerous gene-associated human diseases by intentionally altering the gene expression in pathological cells. A successful clinical application of gene-based therapy depends on an efficient gene delivery system. Many efforts have been attempted to improve the safety and efficiency of gene-based therapies. Nanoparticles have been proved to be the most promising vehicles for clinical gene therapy due to their tunable size, shape, surface, and biological behaviors. In this review, the clinical development of nanoparticles for gene delivery will be particularly highlighted. Several promising candidates, which are closest to clinical applications, will be briefly reviewed. Then, the recent developments of nanoparticles for clinical gene therapy will be identified and summarized. Finally, the development of nanoparticles for clinical gene delivery in future will be prospected.

Polylysine-modified polyethylenimine inducing tumor apoptosis as an efficient gene carrier

Polyethylenimine (PEI) is receiving increasing attention as a gene carrier with high transfection efficiency. However, its high charge density and cytotoxic effects limit its application. Polylysine (PLL) is another polymeric gene carrier with good biodegradability and biocompatibility, although its lack of endosomal escape ability strongly impairs its transfection efficiency. In this study, PLL was introduced to PEI by ring-opening polymerization of ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-l-lysine N-carboxyanhydride, followed by deprotection of carbobenzyloxy groups. As-prepared PEI-PLL multiarm hyperbranched copolymers were characterized as gene carriers in vitro by measuring their particle size, zeta potential, cytotoxicity, transfection efficiency, and cell internalization. The optimum transfected efficiency of PEI-PLL was nearly seven times higher than that of PEI with a molecular weight of 25kDa. Furthermore, pKH3-rev-casp-3 plasmid DNA was used as a gene for anti-tumor treatment in a xenograft model using nude mice. Compared with 25kDa PEI, PEI-PLL exhibited better tumor inhibition effects in 23days. In addition, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling, immunohistochemistry, and western blot analysis were used to determine the anti-tumor mechanism of PEI-PLL. The results showed that tumor cell apoptosis led to tumor inhibition, which could be attributed to pKH3-rev-casp-3 inducing poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 cleavage. PEI-PLL is a promising gene carrier candidate for further application in vivo.

Codelivery of Antitumor Drug and Gene by a pH-Sensitive Charge-Conversion System

In the present study, a gene and drug codelivery system was developed by electrostatic binding of polyethylenimine-poly(l-lysine)-poly(l-glutamic acid) (PELG), polyethylenimine (PEI), cis-aconityl-doxorubicin (CAD), and DNA. Zeta potential and drug release analysis confirmed the pH-responsive charge conversion and acid-sensitive drug release functional properties of the PELG/PEI/(DNA+CAD) system. Gel retardation assay and transfection experiment showed the codelivery system had effective DNA binding ability and good transfection efficiency on HepG2 cells. The therapeutic gene p53 was further employed to study its combinational effects with CAD. Cytotoxicity assay showed the half inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the PELG/PEI/(p53+CAD) codelivery system was lower than that of the gene or the drug delivery system. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that the drug and gene could be delivered into the cells simultaneously. A significant increase of p53 gene expression was achieved after HepG2 cells treated by PELG/PEI/(p53+CAD) codelivery system. The apoptosis experiment indicated clearly that the codelivery system could lead an effective apoptosis on tumor cells, which was beneficial for the treatment of cancer. The biodistribution and tumor accumulation of the codelivery system was explored via in vivo imaging in subcutaneous xenograft and in situ tumor models. The tumor and some major organs were excised and imaged, and the results showed that the codelivery system can accumulate efficiently in tumor for both tumor models. It can be suggested from the above results that the PELG/PEI/(DNA+CAD) codelivery system will have great potential applications in cancer therapy.

PEI Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles: Efficient Gene Carriers with Visible Fluorescence

Low molecular weight polyethyleneimines were conjugated onto gold nanoparticles to form Au-PEI conjugates. Au-PEI is the first reported gene carrier which has both high transfection efficiency and strong fluorescence. Au-PEI showed higher transfection efficiency and it can be used for bioimaging because it can be detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy and in vivo bioimaging system.

A highly efficient siRNA carrier of PBLG modified hyperbranched PEI

In search for effective non-viral gene vectors for the delivery of siRNA, a copolymer was designed and synthesized by grafting hydrophobic poly(gamma-benzyl L-glutamate) segment (PBLG) to hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI-PBLG). PEI-PBLG could efficiently deliver siRNA to cells to silence the targeted gene. Markedly, PEI-PBLG caused lower cytotoxicity in comparison to unmodified PEI. The siRNA complexed with PEI-PBLG showed a remarkable knockdown (75.23% relative to untreated cells, without changing the medium after 6 h of incubation) of the targeted luciferase gene in stable expressing luciferase CT26 cells while the Lipofectamine2000 and unmodified PEI could only achieve knockdown rates of 57.92% and 15.31%, respectively. The siRNA complexed with PEI-PBLG also demonstrated that it had greater gene silencing ability than unmodified PEI and Lipofectamin2000 in both 4T1 cells stably transfected with the luciferase gene and HeLa cells transiently transfected with the luciferase gene. The internalization efficiency of carrier/Alexa647-labeled siRNA was quantified using flow cytometry. PEI-PBLG/Alexa647-labeled siRNA showed internalization efficiency of 52.67% while PEI and Lipofectamine2000 demonstrated 27.23% and 37.91%, respectively. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) assay also indicated that PEI-PBLG induced higher cell uptake efficiency than other commercial reagents. PEI-PBLG was shown to be a promising siRNA carrier with potential application in cancer therapy.

miRNA oligonucleotide and sponge for miRNA-21 inhibition mediated by PEI-PLL in breast cancer therapy.

UNLABELLED MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) inhibition is a promising biological strategy for breast cancer therapy. However its application is limited by the lack of efficient miRNA inhibitor delivery systems. As a cationic polymer transfection material for nucleic acids, the poly (l-lysine)-modified polyethylenimine (PEI-PLL) copolymer combines the high transfection efficiency of polyethylenimine (PEI) and the good biodegradability of polyllysine (PLL). In this work, PEI-PLL was successfully synthesized and confirmed to transfect plasmid and oligonucleotide more effectively than PEI in MCF-7 cells (human breast cancer cells). In this regard, two kinds of miR-21 inhibitors, miR-21 sponge plasmid DNA (Sponge) and anti-miR-21 oligonucleotide (AMO), were transported into MCF-7 cells by PEI-PLL respectively. The miR-21 expression and the cellular physiology were determined post transfection. Compared with the negative control, PEI-PLL/Sponge or PEI-PLL/AMO groups exhibited lower miR-21 expression and cell viability. The anti-tumor mechanism of PEI-PLL/miR-21 inhibitors was further studied by cell cycle and western blot analyses. The results indicated that the miR-21 inhibition could induce the cell cycle arrest in G1 phase, upregulate the expression of Programmed Cell Death Protein 4 (PDCD4) and thus active the caspase-3 apoptosis pathway. Interestingly, the PEI-PLL/Sponge and PEI-PLL/AMO also sensitized the MCF-7 cells to anti-tumor drugs, doxorubicin (DOX) and cisplatin (CDDP). These results demonstrated that PEI-PLL/Sponge and PEI-PLL/AMO complexes would be two novel and promising gene delivery systems for breast cancer gene therapy based on miR-21 inhibition. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This work was a combination of the high transfection efficiency of polyethylenimine (PEI), the good biodegradability of polyllysine (PLL) and the breast cancer-killing effect of miR-21 inhibitors. The poly (l-lysine)-modified polyethylenimine (PEI-PLL) copolymer was employed as the vector of miR-21 sponge plasmid DNA (Sponge) or anti-miR-21 oligonucleotide (AMO). PEI-PLL showed more transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cells than PEI. Moreover, the breast cancer cells exhibited significantly lower miR-21 expression and cell viability post transfection with sponge or AMO. Interestingly, the PEI-PLL/miR-21 inhibitor complexes also sensitized the cancer cells to anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs, doxorubicin (DOX) and cisplatin (CDDP). This synergistic effect provides a good application prospect of co-delivery miR-21 inhibitors and chemical drugs in breast cancer therapy.

A pH-Responsive Detachable PEG Shielding Strategy for Gene Delivery System in Cancer Therapy

In this study, a pH-responsive detachable polyethylene glycol (PEG) shielding strategy was designed for gene delivery in cancer therapy. Polyethylenimine/DNA complex (PEI/DNA) was in situ shielded by aldehyde group-modified PEG derivatives. The aldehyde groups of PEG could react with the amino groups of PEI by Schiff base reaction. The Schiff base bond was stable in neutral pH but labile in slightly acidic pH, which made the PEG sheddable in tumors. PEG-coated nanoparticles (NPs) had distinct advantages compared to their mPEG counterpart, possessing decreased zeta potential, more compressed size, and enhanced stability. PEG/PEI/DNA NPs showed not only high tumor cell uptake and transfection efficiency in vitro but also efficient accumulation and gene expression in solid tumors in vivo. This pH-responsive detachable PEG shielding system has the potential to be applied to other polycationic nanoparticles that contain amino groups on their surfaces, which will have broad prospects in cancer therapy.