Electrochemically controlled release of lipid/DNA complexes: a new tool for synthetic gene delivery system

Abstract Advances in molecular medicine have produced a large amount of information about genes that translate to therapeutic molecules when expressed in living cells. There is an increasing interest in nonviral methods for gene delivery, to address all concerns on non-toxic, easy, and possibly efficient delivery systems. In this paper we introduced a new attractive approach for non-viral transferring of genetic materials on demand. By using lipofectin reagent (1:1 molar ratio of DOPE:DOTMA. DOPE: l -α-doleoyl posphatidylethanolamine; DOTMA: N -[1-(2,3-dideyloxy) propyl]- n , n , n -trimethylammonium chloride), the lipid/DNA complexes (lipoplexes) can be electrostatically adsorbed on the gold microelectrode surface. The resulting lipoplexes molecules can be subsequently removed from the surface by applying −1.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in physiological phosphate buffer medium (pH 7.4). This electrochemically controlled-release process has been extensively examined by gel electrophoresis (GE), electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques. The lipoplex composition has been addressed for efficient gene delivery protocol, based on their different charge ratios. The results from different techniques coincided, as also verified by the repetitive control experiments. This in-vitro electrically – triggered release protocol for genetic material offers the current gene delivery arsenal a new, simple, and non-viral alternative.