Biocompatible Glycol Chitosan-based Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery System

Since chitosan is biocompatible and biodegradable, it has been studied as a good material as a gene delivery carrier. In this study, we have developed and studied a gene delivery carrier by introducing methyl acrylate and polyethylenimine using glycol chitosan, a derivative of chitosan. GMP1300 and GMP2000 were identified by H-1 NMR and electrophoresis was performed to confirm the binding ability with pDNA. The particle size and surface charge of GMP1300 and GMP2000 with pDNA were measured using a zetasizer. Cytotoxicity was assessed using HeLa and HEK293 cell lines, and cellular uptake was confirmed by confocal microscopy. In addition, the gene expression rate in HeLa cell line was confirmed by confocal image through green fluorescent protein (GFP), and transfection efficiency was measured by protein quantification. As a result, the prepared nanoparticles were expected to be used as biocompatible gene delivery carriers because of their low toxicity and strong binding force with genes.