Self-assembled ternary complexes of plasmid DNA, low molecular weight polyethylenimine and targeting peptide for nonviral gene delivery into neurons

Chemical conjugation of targeting ligands to polycation/plasmid DNA complexes has been widely used to improve the transfection efficiency of nonviral gene delivery vectors. However, conjugation reactions may reduce or even inactivate the biological activities of chemically sensitive moieties, such as proteins and peptides. Here we describe a new method for introducing targeting ligands into nonviral vectors, in which ternary complexes are formed via charge interactions among polyethylenimine (PEI) of 600 Da, plasmid DNA and targeting peptides with positively charged DNA-binding sequence. Owing to the nerve growth factor (NGF) loop 4 hairpin motif in the targeting peptide, these ternary complexes are capable of mediating gene delivery efficiently and specifically into cells expressing the NGF receptor TrkA. In in vitro experiments, the complexes improved luciferase reporter gene expression by up to 1000-fold while comparing with that produced by complexes with nontargeting control peptide. In an in vivo experiment, the ternary complexes with the targeting peptide was 59-fold more efficient than the control ternary complexes in transfecting dorsal root ganglia (DRG), the peripheral nervous sites with TrkA-expressing neurons. In a cell viability study, the ternary complexes were remarkably different from DNA complexes by PEI of 25 kDa, the gold standard for nonviral gene carriers, displaying no toxicity in tested neuronal cells. Thus, this study demonstrates an alternative method to construct nonviral delivery system for targeted gene transfer into neurons.