Amphiphilic Polypeptides for VEGF siRNA Delivery into Retinal Epithelial Cells
by
Olga Osipova 1, Vladimir Sharoyko 1
, Natalia Zashikhina 1,2, Natalya Zakharova 2, Tatiana Tennikova 1, Arto Urtti 1,3,4 and Evgenia Korzhikova-Vlakh 1,2,*
Olga Osipova 1, Vladimir Sharoyko 1, Natalia Zashikhina 1,2, Natalya Zakharova 2, Tatiana Tennikova 1, Arto Urtti 1,3,4 and Evgenia Korzhikova-Vlakh 1,2,*
1
Institute of Chemistry, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskii pr. 26, 198584 Saint Petersburg, Russia
2
Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, Bolshoy pr. 31, 199004 Saint-Petersburg, Russia
3
School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistonranta 1 C, 70210 Kuopio, Finland
4
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 5 E, 00790 Helsinki, Finland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12010039 (registering DOI)
Received: 27 November 2019 / Revised: 26 December 2019 / Accepted: 31 December 2019 / Published: 2 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery across Biological Barriers)
Polyethyleneimine, poly-L-lysine, chitosan and some others cationic polymers have been thoroughly studied as nucleic acid delivery systems in gene therapy. However, the drug release from these systems proceeds at a very low rate due to extremely high binding between a carrier and gene material. To reduce these interactions and to enhance drug release, we developed a set of amphiphilic polypeptides containing positively and negatively charged amino acids as well as a hydrophobic one. The copolymers obtained were characterized by size-exclusion chromatography, static light scattering, HPLC amino acid analysis and 1HNMR spectroscopy. All copolymers formed particles due to a self-assembly in aqueous media. Depending on polypeptide composition, the formation of particles with hydrodynamic diameters from 180 to 900 nm was observed. Stability of polymer particles, loading and release efficiency were carefully studied. Cellular uptake of the particles was efficient and their cytotoxicity was negligible. The application of polymer carriers, containing siRNA, to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A165) silencing of ARPE-19 cells was successful. The gene silencing was confirmed by suppression of both messenger RNA and protein expression.
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Keywords:
amphiphilic polypeptides; self-assembly; nanoparticles; siRNA delivery; VEGF; gene silencing
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MDPI and ACS Style
Osipova, O.; Sharoyko, V.; Zashikhina, N.; Zakharova, N.; Tennikova, T.; Urtti, A.; Korzhikova-Vlakh, E. Amphiphilic Polypeptides for VEGF siRNA Delivery into Retinal Epithelial Cells. Pharmaceutics 2020, 12, 39.
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