Chitosan microparticles intended for anti-caries DNA vaccine mucosal delivery: Synthesis, characterization and transfection

In order to enhance the mucosal immunity of anti-caries DNA vaccine, chitosan-DNA microparticles for musocal vaccination were prepared by a coacervation method. The physicochemical structure of microparticles was investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a cofocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). For in-vitro studies, Hela cell was transfected by chitosan-DNA microparticles. The expression of proteins was measured by the immunohistochemical methods, and the cytotocity of chitosan in Hela cell line was determined by the MTT assay. The experimental results show that the microparticles are about 2–6 μm in size and spherical in shape. The encapsulation efficiency is 99%, and the DNA is almost captured in the micropraticles. Plasmid loaded into chitosan microparticles is distributed throughout these particles. The number of positive staining cells of chitosan-pGJA-P transfected cell is more than that of naked plasmid transfect cells, but less than that of Lipofect-DNA complex group. Chitosan was found to be less cytotoxic compared with lipofectin (p<0.01).