Poster
Presentation 01:
THE STRUCTURE OF SYNTHETIC GENE CARRIERS:
DNA COMPLEXES WITH CATIONIC POLYMERS
Nily Dan1, Matthew Ford2,
James Lease2
1Drexel University;
2University of Delaware
3141 Chestnut St; Colburn Laboratory
Philadelphia, PA 19104; Newark,
DE 19716
dan@cbis.ece.drexel.edu
(215) 895-6624
The use of DNA-polycation complexes
as gene carriers has the potential to overcome the difficulties encountered
in viral vectors for gene therapy. However, low efficiency plagues
such synthetic vectors. We seek to design a polymer-based DNA carrier
and to predict its properties. Specifically, we seek to control the
complex charge and rate of unpackaging, which affect targeting and rate
of release, respectively. In this study, we have used Monte Carlo
simulations to probe the structure of such complexes. We find that
1) the complex composition is proportional to solution composition until
a saturation is reached, 2) addition of salt effectively decreases bond
energy, thereby decreasing the polymer:DNA charge ratio, and 3) molecular
weight of the polyelectrolyte plays an important role in determining the
complex structure.
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