The Interaction Mechanism of Intramuscular Gene Delivery Materials with Cell Membranes.

It has been confirmed that skeletal muscle cells have the capability to receive foreign plasmid DNA (pDNA) and express functional proteins. This provides a promisingly applicable strategy for safe, convenient, and economical gene therapy. However, intramuscular pDNA delivery efficiency was not high enough for most therapeutic purposes.

The Progress of Non-Viral Materials and Methods for Gene Delivery to Skeletal Muscle.

Since Jon A. Wolff found skeletal muscle cells being able to express foreign genes and Russell J. Mumper increased the gene transfection efficiency into the myocytes by adding polymers, skeletal muscles have become a potential gene delivery and expression target.

Can nanoparticles and nano‒protein interactions bring a bright future for insulin delivery?

Insulin therapy plays an essential role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. However, frequent injections required to effectively control the glycemic levels lead to substantial inconvenience and low patient compliance. In order to improve insulin delivery, many efforts have been made, such as developing the nanoparticles (NPs)-based release systems and oral insulin.

The proper strategy to compress and protect plasmid DNA in the Pluronic L64-electropulse system for enhanced intramuscular gene delivery.

Intramuscular expression of functional proteins is a promising strategy for therapeutic purposes. Previously, we developed an intramuscular gene delivery method by combining Pluronic L64 and optimized electropulse, which is among the most efficient methods to date. However, plasmid DNAs (pDNAs) in this method were not compressed, making them unstable and inefficient .

Bionic cartilage acellular matrix microspheres as a scaffold for engineering cartilage.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds made from decellularized natural cartilage have been successfully used in cartilage lesion repair, but allogeneic cartilage donors are always in shortage and xenogeneic cartilage tissues may have the risk of unknown disease transfer. In this study, we constructed artificial bionic cartilage microspheres by encapsulating MSCs in collagen microspheres and cultured in a chondrogenic-inducing medium. Then, acellular matrix microsphere (BCAMM) scaffolds were fabricated from the cultured microspheres at three different developmental stages.

Tailoring the Supramolecular Structure of Guanidinylated Pullulan toward Enhanced Genetic Photodynamic Therapy.

In the progress of designing a gene carrier system, what is urgently needed is a balance of excellent safety and satisfactory efficiency. Herein, a straightforward and versatile synthesis of a cationic guanidine-decorated dendronized pullulan (OGG3P) for efficient genetic photodynamic therapy was proposed. OGG3P was able to block the mobility of DNA from a weight ratio of 2.

Tailoring the supramolecular structure of amphiphilic glycopolypeptide analogue toward liver targeted drug delivery systems.

Amphiphilic glycopolypeptide analogues have harboured great importance in the development of targeted drug delivery systems. In this study, lactosylated pullulan-graft-arginine dendrons (LP-g-G3P) was synthesized using Huisgen azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between lactosylated pullulan and generation 3 arginine dendrons bearing Pbf and Boc groups on the periphery. Hydrophilic lactosylated pullulan was selected for amphiphilic modification, aiming at specific lectin recognition.

Multi-Responsive "Turn-On" Nanocarriers for Efficient Site-Specific Gene Delivery In Vitro and In Vivo.

Systemic gene delivery is a complicated and multistep process that confronts numerous biological barriers. It remains a formidable challenge to exploit a single gene carrier with multiple features to combat all obstacles collectively. Herein, a multi-responsive "turn-on" polyelectrolyte complex (DNA/OEI-SS /HA-SS-COOH, DSS) delivery system is demonstrated with a sequential self-assembly of disulfide-conjugated oligoethylenimine (OEI-SS ) and disulfide bond-modified hyaluronic acid envelope (HA-SS-COOH) that can combat multiple biological barriers collectively when administered intravenously.

Synthesis of Electroneutralized Amphiphilic Copolymers with Peptide Dendrons for Intramuscular Gene Delivery.

Intramuscular gene delivery materials are of great importance in plasmid-based gene therapy system, but there is limited information so far on how to design and synthesize them. A previous study showed that the peptide dendron-based triblock copolymer with its components arranged in a reversed biomembrane architecture could significantly increase intramuscular gene delivery and expression. Herein, we wonder whether copolymers with biomembrane-mimicking arrangement may have similar function on intramuscular gene delivery.

Self-assembly of pH-sensitive fluorinated peptide dendron functionalized dextran nanoparticles for on-demand intracellular drug delivery.

In this study, the amphiphilic fluorinated peptide dendrons functionalized dextran (FPD-HZN-Dex) via an acid-sensitive hydrazone linkage was successfully designed and prepared for the first time. We demonstrated a spontaneous self-assembly of amphiphilic FPD-HZN-Dex into the well-defined nanoparticles with the core-shell architecture in aqueous media, which is attributed to the efficient amphiphilic functionalization of dextran by the hydrophobic fluorinated peptide dendrons. The spherical morphology, uniform particle size and good storage stability of the prepared FPD-HZN-Dex nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, respectively.

The cytocompatability of polyhydroxyalkanoates coated with a fusion protein of PHA repressor protein (PhaR) and Lys-Gln-Ala-Gly-Asp-Val (KQAGDV) polypeptide.

Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a family of polyesters with biodegradability, biocompatibility and adjustable mechanical properties that are under intensive development for bioimplant applications. In this research, a fusion protein of PHA repressor protein (PhaR) and Lys-Gln-Ala-Gly-Asp-Val (KQAGDV) oligopeptide (PhaR-KQAGDV) was utilized to enhance the PHA cytocompatability via a mechanism of PhaR hydrophobically binding to PHA coupled with KQAGDV oligopeptide, a specific ligand to the integrins on the cell surface, for promotion of cell adhesion. The PhaR-KQAGDV fusion protein successfully produced and purified from recombinant E.