(135d) New Type of Organic-Clay Intercalative Materials for Gene Delivery System

Nonviral vectors have gained increasing interest in gene therapy, but generally they can not obtain satisfying transfection efficiency. Here we develop a hybrid material as a novel nonviral vector, which can combine both advantages of biopolymer with clay in gene delivery system. Soluble quaternized chitosan was intercalated into the interlayer of rectorite to obtain a new intercalated nanocomposite. MTT assay and in vivo studies of acute toxicity revealed that the nanocomposites were biocompatible and non-toxic. They can adsorb pDNA effectively and stably. In vitro study of cell transfection indicated that GFP expression was intensively continuous for 120h. Furthermore, in vivo transfection study, the most prominent GPF expression was observed in the gastric and duodenum mucosa, and good transfection efficiency was also obtained when injected into the muscle. All the results suggest that the nanocomposite is a novel and potential non-viral gene carrier.