New multivalent cationic lipids reveal bell curve for transfection efficiency versus membrane charge density: lipid-DNA complexes for gene delivery

BACKGROUND: Gene carriers based on lipids or polymers-rather than on engineered viruses-constitute the latest technique for delivering genes into cells for gene therapy. Cationic liposome-DNA (CL-DNA) complexes have emerged as leading nonviral vectors in worldwide gene therapy clinical trials. To arrive at therapeutic dosages, however, their efficiency requires substantial further improvement. METHODS: Newly synthesized multivalent lipids (MVLs) enable control of headgroup charge and size. Complexes comprised of MVLs and DNA have been characterized by X-ray diffraction and ethidium bromide displacement assays. Their transfection efficiency (TE) in L-cells was measured with a luciferase assay. RESULTS: Plots of TE versus the membrane charge density (sigmaM, average charge/unit area of membrane) for the MVLs and monovalent 2,3-dioleyloxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (DOTAP) merge onto a universal, bell-shaped curve. This bell curve leads to the identification of three distinct regimes, related to interactions between complexes and cells: at low sigmaM, TE increases with increasing sigmaM; at intermediate sigmaM, TE exhibits saturated behavior; and unexpectedly, at high sigmaM, TE decreases with increasing sigmaM. CONCLUSIONS: Complexes with low sigmaM remain trapped in the endosome. In the high sigmaM regime, accessible for the first time with the new MVLs, complexes escape by overcoming a kinetic barrier to fusion with the endosomal membrane (activated fusion), yet they exhibit a reduced level of efficiency, presumably due to the inability of the DNA to dissociate from the highly charged membranes in the cytosol. The intermediate, optimal regime reflects a compromise between the opposing demands on sigmaM for endosomal escape and dissociation in the cytosol.