In vitro gene transfer efficacies of N,N-dialkylpyrrolidinium chlorides: a structure-activity investigation

Inspired by the previously reported superior gene transfer efficacies of amine headgroup-containing cationic lipids to their hydroxy counterparts, in the present structure-activity investigation we have compared the relative in vitro gene transfer efficacies of eight newly synthesized structural analogues of our previously reported lipids 1-4, namely the four 3,4-diaminopyrrolidinium chloride structural analogues (lipids 9-12, Chart 1) and the N-BOC-protected precursors of these amine analogues (lipids 5-8, Chart 1) with our previously reported lipids 1-4 (Chart 1) in five cultured cell lines. In contrast to the above-mentioned earlier reports, except for the superior or comparable transfection efficacies of the diaminopyrrolidinium lipids with distearyl and stearyloleyl chains (lipid 11 and 12 respectively, Chart 1) in MCF-7 and HEK293T cells, the relative transfection efficacies of the other diamino analogues were found to be much lower than their dihydroxy counterparts. The results of the DNase I sensitivity assays indicate that enhanced degradation of DNA associated with lipids 9-12 by cellular DNase I might play an important role behind their seriously compromised transfection efficacies. In addition, the present structure-activity investigation revealed a strikingly cell tropic transfection behavior of lipid 6 (Chart 1). While lipids 5, 7, and 8 were found to be either poor or essentially incompetent in transfecting all the five cells, lipid 6 was remarkably efficacious in transfecting kidney cells (COS-1 and HEK293T cells) at lipid:DNA charge ratios 3:1 and 1:1 when used in combination with equimolar amounts of DOPE and DOPC.