Nano polyelectrolyte complexes of carboxymethyl dextran and chitosan to improve chitosan-mediated delivery of miR-145.

Chitosan (Ch) nanoparticles have emerged as a promising vector for gene delivery, nonetheless slow dissociation rate of the nanoparticles in cytoplasm is a drawback of using Ch. Herein, the Ch-mediated gene delivery was improved using PECs of Ch and carboxymethyl dextran (CMD) to transfer the micro RNA-145 (miR-145). The optimized nano PEC preparation method and effects of Ch molecular weight (Mw) and a CMD to Ch molar ratio (CMD:Ch) on physical characteristics and in vitro efficacy of the nano PECs was determined.