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The Development of Cholesterol Embedded Cationic Liposomes for Gene Transfer
Zhao Yinan1,2, Zhang Shubiao2*, Cui Shaohui2, Zhang Shufen1*
1State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116012, China; 2SEAC-ME Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Bio-resources Utilization, Dalian Nationalities University, Dalian 116600, China
Abstract: The cationic liposomes are a kind of anti-tumor drug delivery systems with potential clinical applications. Co-lipids can stabilize the double membrane of cationic liposomes， reduce the toxicity of cationic lipids， and improve cell penetration of cationic lipids. In this article， cholesterol was chosen to prepare cationic liposomes. The size， zeta potential and morphology of cationic liposomes were determined. The sizes of these liposomes were from 100 to 140 nm. Zeta potentials were in the range of 45~60 mV. Lipoplexes formed by the combination of cationic liposomes with pGFP-N2 and pGL3 were evaluated in terms of gene-transferring efficiency and cytotoxicity in Hep-2 cells. Our results convincingly demonstrated that cholesterol embedded cationic liposomes could condense DNA to form lipoplexes. The results showed high transfection efficiency in Hep-2 cells at the ratios of lipid to cholesterol 1:1， 1:2 and 1:4. Toxicity experiments showed that the cytotoxicity of lipids against cells increased， while cholesterol could reduce the cytotoxicity of liposomes to some extent.
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