| 초록 |
Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have recently attracted great attention in gene therapy field due to their sequence-specific gene silencing activity. However, siRNA delivery problems should be addressed before the clinical application of siRNA therapeutics. Organic cationic polymers such as polyethyleneimine (PEI) have been used as efficient non-viral gene delivery systems. Herein, low molecular weight PEI conjugated with bile acid (deoxycholic acid, DA) was used as a delivery vehicle for siRNA. The aim of this study was to morphologically and physiologically characterize PEI-DA/siRNA polyplexes and examine their transfection efficiency in human smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The PEI-DA/siRNA polyplexes with a diameter of ca. 100nm showed significantly higher cellular uptake and gene silencing activity, compared to the siRNA polyplxes with conventional cationic polymer branched PEI (25K). We are expecting that PEI-DA conjugate could be a potential gene carrier system for siRNA. |
