Preparation of cationic polydiacetylene nanovesicles for in vitro gene delivery

Here, we report novel cationic polydiacetylene-containing nanovesicle system and its application to gene delivery in vitro. The nanovesicle was constructed using a cationic diacetylene monomer lipid (DADMDPA-bis-PCDA) which contains a quaternary ammonium head group. The cationic character of this monomer leads to the electrostatic interaction with genetic materials such as plasmid DNA forming complexes and the diacetylene groups on its hydrophobic moiety provides the further polymerization functionality upon UV irradiation forming polydiacetylene-linkages within the nanovesicle. In the present study, the characteristics of nanovesicle/DNA interaction, and the transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity for the human embryonic kidney cells were characterized and compared between the nonpolymerized and polymerized nanovesicles.