Mono-cationic detergents play a critical role in the development of liposome-based gene vector via controlling its lamellarity

Controlling the number of lipid bilayers, the lamellarity, in a liposome is a major factor in the in vivo/in vitro pharmacokinetics of drug delivery using liposome-based nanocarriers. Findings reported in a previous study indicated that a mono-cationic detergent (MCD) could be useful in controlling liposomal size via interaction with the lipid envelope. Here, we investigated controlling the lamellarity of the liposomal gene vector by MCD, using a multifunctional envelope-type nano device (MEND). The MEND consisted of a condensed plasmid DNA core and lipid envelopes. The size of the MCD-contained MEND (MCD-MEND) decreased as a function of the amount of MCD, indicating that MCD can be used to control the number of the lipid bilayers. We also developed a triple-layered MEND (TL-MEND) by packaging a di-lamellar MEND into an MCD-containing lipid bilayer. We hypothesized that the TL-MEND would efficiently deliver a gene to the nucleus, when the outer single bilayer fused with the plasma membrane and the inner double membranes then fused with the nuclear double membranes. Transfection assays showed that the TL-MEND had a high transfection activity in JAWS II cells, non-dividing cells. These results indicate that MCD has the potential for enhancing the gene delivery by controlling liposomal lamellarity.