Nanoscale Structure of Lipid-Gemini Surfactant Mixed Monolayers Resolved with AFM and KPFM Microscopy

Drug delivery vehicles composed of lipids and gemini surfactants (GS) are promising in gene therapy. Tuning the composition and properties of the delivery vehicle is important for the efficient load and delivery of DNA fragments (genes). In this paper, we studied novel gene delivery systems composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC), 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), and GS of the type N,N-bis(dimethylalkyl)-α,ω-alkanediammonium dibromide at different ratios. The nanoscale properties of the mixed DOPC-DPPC-GS monolayers on the surface of the gene delivery system were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). We demonstrate that lipid-GS mixed monolayers result in the formation of nanoscale domains that vary in size, height, and electrical surface potential. We show that the presence of GS can impart significant changes to the domain topography and electrical surface potential compared to monolayers composed of lipids alone.