Apoptosis of A549 cells by small interfering RNA targeting survivin delivery using poly-β-amino ester/guanidinylated O-carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles

Gene-based therapeutics has emerged as a promising approach for human cancer therapy. Among a variety of non-viral vectors, polymer vectors are particularly attractive due to their safety and multivalent groups on their surface. This study focuses on guanidiny-lated O-carboxymethyl chitosan (GOCMCS) along with poly-beta-amino ester(PBAE) for siRNA delivery. Binding efficiency of PBAE/siRNA/GOCMCS nanoparticles were characterized by gel electrophoresis. The siRNA-loaded nanoparticles were found to be stable in the presence of RNase A, serum and BALF respectively. Fine particle fraction (FPF) which was determined by a two-stage impinger (TSI) was 57.8% +/- 12.6%. The particle size and zeta potential of the nanoparticles were 153.8 +/- 12.54 nm and + 12.2 +/- 4.94 mV. In vitro cell transfection studies were carried out with A549 cells. The cellular uptake was significantly increased. When the cells were incubated with siSurvivin-loaded nanoparticles, it could induce 26.83% +/- 0.59% apoptosis of A549 cells and the gene silencing level of survivin expression in A549 cells were 30.93% +/- 2.27%. The results suggested that PBAE/GOCMCS nanoparticle was a very promising gene delivery carrier. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University.