Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Nanomedicine. 2012 Oct;8(7):1200-7. doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2012.01.006. Epub 2012 Feb 1.
Endothelial cell dysfunction is a critical component of ocular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. An important limitation in endothelial cell research is the difficulty in achieving efficient transfection of these cells. A new polymer library was here synthesized and utilized to find polymeric nanoparticles that can transfect macrovascular (human umbilical vein, HUVECs) and microvascular (human retinal, HRECs) endothelial cells. Nanoparticles were synthesized that can achieve transfection efficiency of up to 85% for HRECs and 65% for HUVECs. These nanoparticle systems enable high levels of expression while avoiding problems associated with viral gene delivery. The polymeric nanoparticles also show cell-specific behavior, with a high correlation between microvascular and macrovascular transfection (R(2) = 0.81) but low correlation between retinal endothelial and retinal epithelial transfection (R(2) = 0.21). These polymeric nanoparticles can be used in vitro as experimental tools and potentially in vivo to target and treat vascular-specific diseases.
Polymeric nanoparticles were synthesized with the goal of transfecting endothelial cells, which are commonly considered difficult targets. The authors report excellent transfection efficiency of up to 85% for human retinal and 65% for human umbilical vein endothelial cells. These NPs can be used in vitro as experimental tools and potentially in vivo to target and treat vascular-specific diseases.
内皮细胞功能障碍是眼部疾病的一个关键组成部分，如年龄相关性黄斑变性和糖尿病性视网膜病变。内皮细胞研究的一个重要限制是难以有效地转染这些细胞。本文合成了一种新的聚合物库，并利用它来寻找可以转染大血管（人脐静脉内皮细胞，HUVECs）和微血管（人视网膜内皮细胞，HRECs）的聚合物纳米颗粒。合成了可以实现高达 85%的 HRECs 和 65%的 HUVECs 的转染效率的纳米颗粒。这些纳米颗粒系统能够实现高水平的表达，同时避免与病毒基因传递相关的问题。聚合物纳米颗粒还表现出细胞特异性行为，微血管和大血管转染之间具有高度相关性（R(2) = 0.81），但视网膜内皮细胞和视网膜上皮细胞转染之间的相关性较低（R(2) = 0.21）。这些聚合物纳米颗粒可以在体外作为实验工具，并且有可能在体内用于靶向和治疗血管特异性疾病。
为了转染内皮细胞，合成了聚合物纳米颗粒，内皮细胞通常被认为是难以转染的靶细胞。作者报道了高达 85%的人视网膜和 65%的人脐静脉内皮细胞的优异转染效率。这些 NPs 可以在体外作为实验工具，并且有可能在体内用于靶向和治疗血管特异性疾病。
