Novel cationic solid-lipid nanoparticles as non-viral vectors for gene delivery

In this paper, the suitability of novel cationic solid-lipid nanoparticles (SLN) as a nonviral transfection agent for gene delivery was investigated. SLN were produced by using the microemulsion method and Compritol ATO 888 as matrix lipid, dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide as charge carrier and Pluronic F68 as surfactant. Obtained nanoparticles were approximately 120nm in size and positively charged, with a zeta potential value equal to þ45mV in twice-distilled water. Cationic SLN were able to form stable complexes with DNA and to protect DNA against DNase I digestion. The SLN-DNA complexes were characterized by mean diameter and zeta potential measurements. In vitro studies on human liver cancer cells demonstrated a very low degree of toxicity of both SLN and SLN-DNA complexes. Further, SLN-DNA complexes were able to promote transfection of liver cancer cells. These data suggest that our cationic SLN may be potentially useful for gene therapy.