Screening for methylated poly(L-histidine) with various dimethylimidazolium/methylimidazole/imidazole contents as DNA carrier

Abstract

Methylated poly(L-histidine) (PLH-Me), our original polypeptide, has controlled the contents of dimethylimidazolium, τ/π-methylimidazole and imidazole groups for efficient gene delivery. The screening for the PLH-Me as DNA carrier has been carried out by use of the PLH with 25 mol% (τ-methyl, 16 mol%, π-methyl, 17 mol%, deprotonated imidazole, 41 mol%), 68 mol% (τ-methyl, 16 mol%, π-methyl, 8 mol%, deprotonated imidazole, 8 mol%) and 87 mol% (τ-methyl, 7 mol%, π-methyl, 4 mol%, deprotonated imidazole, 2 mol%) dimethylimidazolium groups, that is, PLH-Me(25), PLH-Me(68) and PLH-Me(87), respectively. The screening of the chemical structure of PLH-Me has been carried out for DNA carrier properties, which are the stability of its DNA polyion complexes and gene expression. The DNA complexes with the 25 mol% and 68 mol% dimethylated PLH-Me possessed almost same ability to retain DNA, as compared with the 87 mol% dimethylated PLH-Me, which was examined by competitive exchange with dextran sulfate. From the gene transfection experiment against HepG2 cells, human hepatoma cell line, the PLH-Me(25)/DNA complex was revealed to mediate highest gene expression. These results suggest that the dimethylimidazolium/ methylimidazole/imidazole balance of the PLH-Me is important for DNA carrier design.