Chemical vectors for gene delivery: a current review on polymers, peptides and lipids containing histidine or imidazole as nucleic acids carriers
Open Access
- 28 April 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in British Journal of Pharmacology
- Vol. 157 (2), 166-178
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00288.x
Abstract
DNA/cationic lipid (lipoplexes), DNA/cationic polymer (polyplexes) and DNA/cationic polymer/cationic lipid (lipopolyplexes) electrostatic complexes are proposed as non‐viral nucleic acids delivery systems. These DNA‐nanoparticles are taken up by the cells through endocytosis processes, but the low capacity of DNA to escape from endosomes is regarded as the major limitations of their transfection efficiency. Here, we present a current report on a particular class of carriers including the polymers, peptides and lipids, which is based on the exploitation of the imidazole ring as an endosome destabilization device to favour the nucleic acids delivery in the cytosol. The imidazole ring of histidine is a weak base that has the ability to acquire a cationic charge when the pH of the environment drops bellow 6. As it has been demonstrated for poly(histidine), this phenomena can induce membrane fusion and/or membrane permeation in an acidic medium. Moreover, the accumulation of histidine residues inside acidic vesicles can induce a proton sponge effect, which increases their osmolarity and their swelling. The proof of concept has been shown with polylysine partially substituted with histidine residues that has caused a dramatic increase by 3–4.5 orders of magnitude of the transfection efficiency of DNA/polylysine polyplexes. Then, several histidine‐rich polymers and peptides as well as lipids with imidazole, imidazolinium or imidazolium polar head have been reported to be efficient carriers to deliver nucleic acids including genes, mRNA or SiRNA in vitro and in vivo. More remarkable, histidylated carriers are often weakly cytotoxic, making them promising chemical vectors for nucleic acids delivery. This article is part of a themed section on Vector Design and Drug Delivery. For a list of all articles in this section see the end of this paper, or visit: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121548564/issueyear?year=2009Keywords
This publication has 101 references indexed in Scilit:
- Synthesis of Alkylated Poly(1-vinylimidazole) for a New pH-Sensitive DNA CarrierPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,2008
- Evaluation of the effect of vector architecture on DNA condensation and gene transfer efficiencyJournal of Controlled Release, 2008
- Nuclear delivery of NFκB-assisted DNA/polymer complexes: plasmid DNA quantitation by confocal laser scanning microscopy and evidence of nuclear polyplexes by FRET imagingNucleic Acids Research, 2008
- A Novel Macrocyclic Polyamine Cationic Lipid Containing an Imidazolium Salt Group: Synthesis, Characterization and Its Transfection Activity as a Gene Delivery VectorChemical Biology & Drug Design, 2008
- A new helper phospholipid for gene deliveryChemical Communications, 2008
- Impact of tumor-specific targeting on the biodistribution and efficacy of siRNA nanoparticles measured by multimodality in vivo imagingProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Administration in non-human primates of escalating intravenous doses of targeted nanoparticles containing ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 siRNAProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Physicochemical and Biological Characterization of Targeted, Nucleic Acid-Containing NanoparticlesBioconjugate Chemistry, 2007
- Attenuated alloreactivity of dendritic cells engineered with surface-modified microspheres carrying a plasmid encoding interleukin-10Biomaterials, 2006
- Histidylated polylysine as a synthetic vector for gene transfer into immortalized cystic fibrosis airway surface and airway gland serous cellsThe Journal of Gene Medicine, 2000