Posadas I, López-Hernández B, Clemente MI, Jiménez JL, Ortega P, de la Mata J, Gómez R, Muñoz-Fernández MA, Ceña V. Highly efficient transfection of rat cortical neurons using carbosilane dendrimers unveils a neuroprotective role for HIF-1alpha in early chemical hypoxia-mediated neurotoxicity.
Pharm Res 2009;
26:1181-91. [PMID:
19191011 DOI:
10.1007/s11095-009-9839-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2008] [Accepted: 01/20/2009] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE
To study the effect of a non-viral vector (carbosilane dendrimer) to efficiently deliver small interfering RNA to postmitotic neurons to study the function of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF1-alpha) during chemical hypoxia-mediated neurotoxicity.
METHODS
Chemical hypoxia was induced in primary rat cortical neurons by exposure to CoCl(2). HIF1-alpha levels were determined by Western Blot and toxicity was evaluated by both MTT and LDH assays. Neurons were incubated with dendriplexes containing anti-HIF1-alpha siRNA and both uptake and HIF1-alpha knockdown efficiency were evaluated.
RESULTS
We report that a non-viral vector (carbosilane dendrimer) can deliver specific siRNA to neurons and selectively block HIF1-alpha synthesis with similar efficiency to that achieved by viral vectors. Using this method, we have found that this transcription factor plays a neuroprotective role during the early phase of chemical hypoxia-mediated neurotoxicity.
CONCLUSION
This work represents a proof-of-concept for the use of carbosilane dendrimers to deliver specific siRNA to postmitotic neurons to block selected protein synthesis. This indicates that this type of vector is a good alternative to viral vectors to achieve very high transfection levels in neurons. This also suggests that carbosilane dendrimers might be very useful for gene therapy.
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