| 초록 |
To develop chitosan based efficient gene carrier, chitosan oligosaccharide (COS, MW 3000) was chemically modified by bile acids (BAs) with different hydrophobicities. The physicochemical properties of the BA-conjugated COSs (COSBAs) were investigated by using 1H-NMR, DLS and spectrofluorophotometer. The COSBAs formed nanoparticles with mean particle sizes around 200 nm in aqueous environment, independent with the kinds of BAs and degree of substitutions (DS). The critical aggregation concentrations were in the range of 6 to 62 mg/L with a trend of increasing the CAC values by decreasing DS and introduction of less hydrophobic BA. As gene carriers, the COSBA nanoparticles showed similar gene condensation capacity, condensed gene protection from DNase I attack, and negligible cytotoxicity. However, COSBA mediated gene transfections resulted in the dramatic different transfection efficiencies by the kinds of BAs and the DS values. |
