Chondroitin Sulfate Increases Transfection Efficiency by DNA–PEI Complexes

One of the most popular nonviral delivery systems for gene therapy constructs are carriers based on polyethylenimine (PEI) DNA complexes. A number of disadvantages associated with the lack of targeted delivery and increased cytotoxicity are overcome by adding auxiliary molecules to the complexes. An example of this is chondroitin sulfate (CS). The purpose of this work was to assess the effect of CS on the transfection properties of DNA–PEI complexes under different conditions of their preparation and transfection protocols. All complexes were prepared in solutions with high and low ionic strength. Transfection of C26 cells was performed according to two protocols differing in the presence of serum in the medium. The portion of transfected cells, transgene expression level, and cell viability were the main parameters of assessing the transfection efficiency. In binary DNA–PEI complexes prepared in different salt conditions, using different transfection protocols, the difference in the portion of transfected cells reached ten times. Addition of CS improved this transfection efficiency indicator up to 6.5 times, while the maximum difference in this indicator for the corresponding ternary complexes was reduced to 2.5 times. Changes in the proportion of CS in the composition of the complexes had an insignificant effect on their transfection properties. In the case of complexes prepared in high ionic strength solutions, the order of CS addition was also important. The best results of transfection efficiency were achieved with ternary complexes prepared in low ionic strength solutions, using a serum-free protocol, while these indicators were comparable with the data for Lipofectamine 2000. The addition of chondroitin sulfate improves the transfection properties of DNA–PEI complexes and makes them less dependent on the methods of preparation and transfection.