PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Nathalie Mignet

Publications and source records attributed to Nathalie Mignet.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Liposome biodistribution by time resolved fluorimetry of lipophilic europium complexes.

The use of conventional fluorophores suffers from some limitations in biological fluids due to low signal/background ratio. Today, this sensitivity issue might be reasonably improved thanks to lanthanide chelates, by selective detection of long decay fluorescence. Use of pulsed light source time-resolved fluorimetry takes into account the fluorescence decay time of the lanthanide chelates to gain sensitivity in biological media. Lipid-DTPA: Eu compounds have been prepared and incorporated into liposomes to evaluate europium based detection of liposomes in biological media. Fluorescence emission was not modified by this incorporation. Europium labelled liposomes were used for biodistribution studies and showed their use in this context.

Animals↗

pH-sensitive PEG lipids containing orthoester linkers: new potential tools for nonviral gene delivery.

The synthesis and properties of pH-sensitive polyethylene glycol (PEG) lipids are described. The sensitivity of these conjugates to slightly acidic pH was clearly related to the structure of the orthoester linkage involved. It was found that pH-sensitive PEG lipids stabilized cationic lipid/DNA isoelectric complexes as efficiently as their non-pH-sensitive PEG analogs at neutral pH. Lowering the pH resulted in the precipitation of the complexes bearing pH-sensitive PEG lipids as a consequence of their degradation. In contrast, insertion of non-pH-sensitive PEG lipids maintained the complex colloidal stability even at lower pH. In vitro results showed a significant increase in transfection with formulations containing pH-sensitive PEG lipids versus non-pH-sensitive analogs. These conjugates show promising properties as lipoplex-stabilizing agents at neutral pH, which could be triggered by a mild acidic environment such as that occurring in solid tumors, inflammatory tissues, and intracellular endosomal compartments.

Cross-Linking Reagents↗

Physicochemical optimisation of plasmid delivery by cationic lipids.

Non-viral gene therapy is based on the use of plasmid expression vectors and chemical or physical plasmid DNA delivery systems. This review discusses the roles of cationic lipids as vectors for gene transfection, reviews different strategies employed to improve cationic lipids for in vivo use, and provides original results on the physicochemistry of lipoplexes. Cationic lipid/DNA delivery vehicles have evolved considerably since their initial gene transfection experiments. Much work has been carried out to investigate their structure/activity relationships, methods of formulation and physicochemical properties. Further work has also focused on enhancing and prolonging their stability in a physiological environment as well as increasing their site-specific and tissue-specific interactions. Original data presented in this report confirm that cationic lipids associated to DNA form supramolecular lamellar structures, which protect DNA from serum DNAse degradation. The effect of formulation (and hence the size of the particles) on lipoplex in vivo circulation half-life and biodistribution is also discussed. A list of abbreviations can be found at the end of the review.

Animals↗

Anionic polyethyleneglycol lipids added to cationic lipoplexes increase their plasmatic circulation time.

Cationic liposomes have been widely sensed as good DNA compacting delivery agents. Although their use generally met with encouraging results in vitro, the results in vivo were rather disappointing, as they strongly interact with the blood components before they can reach the therapeutic target. Polyethyleneglycol (PEG) shielding has been proposed as a way to alleviate this effect, but was still found unsatisfactory in most instances for systemic administration. We demonstrate here that the insertion of anionic functions between the lipid part and the PEG, at a correct distance to favor electrostatic interactions with the outer cationic layer of the lipoplexes, provides not only a decrease in the mean peripheral charge of the lipoplex (zeta potential), but also a greater colloidal stability of the particles in the presence of serum. Transfection in the lung is also decreased with negatively charged PEG shielding, although no significant changes are observed in the tumor. This encouraging new approach should consequently be combined with active extra-cellular receptor targeting to achieve the desired delivery of the therapeutic DNA to tumor tissues.

Animals↗

Cationic lipids for transfection.

Among other strategies, the use of cationic lipids as autoassembling vehicles for non viral DNA transfection has received considerable attention. An exponentially growing litterature has been published on this topic (over 700 hits for the past decade, including 400 in the last two years). The present review focuses on the main present strategies aiming at improving cationic lipids induced transfection, and on some of the frequently encountered problems that should be solved to apply these non-viral vectors for human health. The review contains several sections dealing with the chemistry, physico-chemistry, cell biology, in vivo biology, and targeting of cationic-lipid DNA complexes.

Animals↗

Sphingosine-based liposome as DNA vector for intramuscular gene delivery.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to develop a labile sphingosine-based liposome for intramuscular gene delivery. METHODS: Sphingosine-based liposomes were formulated in a range of solutions with phosphatidylcholine, then were associated to DNA. The physico-chemical characteristics of the sphingosine/EPC liposomes and sphingosine/EPC/DNA lipoplexes were determined. DNA stability within sphingosine-based liposomes was evaluated in the presence of a nuclease and mouse serum. In vivo gene transfer was studied by intramuscular injection with and without the electrotransfer technique. RESULTS: By increasing the charge ratios, colloidally stable sphingosine/DNA particles with a 170 nm average diameter and a positive zeta potential were obtained. Ethidium bromide was still able to insert into plasmid DNA within the lipoplexes, even though plasmid DNA was demonstrated to be complexed to the lipid by gel electrophoresis. Additionally, DNA was shown to be accessible to DNase I, but significantly resistant to serum enzymatic digestion. Upon intramuscular injection, lipoplexes induced an inhibition of gene expression as compared with naked DNA. CONCLUSIONS: The cationic sphingosine/EPC/DNA complexes form weakly compacted structure, potentially labile in vivo, which might be useful for in vivo gene transfer.

Animals↗

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of gadolinium cationic lipids as tools for biodistribution studies of gene delivery complexes.

Gadolinium-chelating cationic lipids have been synthesized to obtain lipoplexes with MRI contrast properties. These compounds were designed to follow the biodistribution of synthetic DNA for gene delivery by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. The lipid MCO-I-68 was synthesized, and chelate complexes with gadolinium were formed and characterized in terms of physicochemical and DNA binding properties. The transfection activity of MCO-I-68-Gd/DNA complexes was assayed in vitro on NIH 3T3. Different formulations of the product were tested. When up to 5% of the gadolinium lipid complexes were co-formulated with the cationic lipid RPR120535 used as a reference, the transfection levels were maintained as compared to RPR120535 alone. To date, only a liposomal formulation of a gadolinium-cationic lipid chelate without DNA had been observed using magnetic resonance imaging. In vivo intratumoral administration of MCO-I-68-Gd/DNA lipoplexes to tumor model led to an important increase of the NMR signal. It was demonstrated that the new complexes also acted as transfection carriers when they were formulated from liposomes.

3T3 Cells↗

DNA complexing lipopolythiourea.

We present a neutral lipopolythiourea (DTTU) as a potential DNA-binding agent. Light scattering experiments showed that mixing a lipopolythiourea with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC/DTTU) led to small particles with sizes ranging from 100 to 150 nm at optimum conditions. Setting a fixed DNA amount, an increasing amount of DTTU/DPPC or DPPC lipids was added. Particle size increased only with DTTU/DPPC, indicating that interaction occurred between the DTTU/DPPC particles and DNA. In the same way, only DTTU/DPPC limited the ethidium bromide accessibility to plasmid DNA. These data suggest that DTTU/DPPC liposomes associate to DNA, which was confirmed by agarose gel experiments. To prove the active part of the DTTU lipid itself in DNA compaction, pegoylated-lipid was used. Cholesterol-PEG(2000) alone was not able to condense DNA. In contrast, DTTU/PEG-cholesterol was able to retain plasmid DNA on an agarose gel. In vivo injection of DTTU/DPPC/complexes was studied. Circulation time increase for noncationic particles as compared to cationic. More obvious was the lack of nonspecific accumulation in the lung, where a gain of 3 to 40 fold was measured.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of enhanced DNA binding new lipopolythioureas.

Nonviral gene delivery is limited to a large extent by the cationic nature of most of the chemical vector. We have shown that lipopolythioureas interact with DNA. However, lipopolythioureas were not very efficient at transfecting cells, probably due to reduced interaction between the noncationic synthetic lipid and the cell membrane. Here, we report that liposomes made from a new thiourea lipid, DPPC, and a lipid bearing an RGD ligand allowed very efficient entry of the lipopolythioureas into integrin alpha(v)beta(3) expressing cells. In addition, we show that a stable interaction between DNA and lipopolythiourea could be obtain with two thiourea groups. Moreover, the addition of a hydrophilic terminus improves the formulation of these new DNA binding agents.

Animals↗

Optimization of cationic lipid mediated gene transfer: structure-function, physico-chemical, and cellular studies.

The rationale design aimed at the enhancement of cationic lipid mediated gene transfer is discussed. These improvements are based on the straight evaluation of the structure-activity relationship and on the introduction of new structures. Much attention have been given to the supramolecular structures of the lipid/DNA complexes, to the effect of serum on gene transfer and to the intracellular trafficking of the lipoplexes. Finally new avenue using reducible cationic lipids has been discussed.

3T3 Cells↗