Co-delivery of genes can be confounded by bicistronic vector design

Abstract

Maximizing the efficiency of nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of genes for co-expression in the same cell is critical for many applications. Strategies to maximize co-delivery of nucleic acids (NA) focused largely on carrier systems, with little attention towards payload composition itself. Here, we investigated the effects of different payload designs: co-delivery of two individual “monocistronic” NAs versus a single bicistronic NA comprising two genes separated by a 2A self-cleavage site. Unexpectedly, co-delivery via the monocistronic design resulted in a higher percentage of co-expressing cells, while predictive co-expression via the bicistronic design remained elusive. Our results will aid the application-dependent selection of the optimal methodology for co-delivery of genes. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]