ABSTRACT
The successful application of gene therapy relies on the development of safe and efficient delivery vectors. Cationic polymers such as cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) can condense genetic material into nanoscale particles, called polyplexes, and induce cellular uptake. With respect to this point, several aspects of the nanoscale structure of polyplexes have remained elusive because of the difficulty in visualizing the molecular arrangement of the two components with nanometer resolution. This limitation has hampered the rational design of polyplexes based on direct structural information. Here, we used super-resolution imaging to study the structure and molecular composition of individual CPP-mRNA polyplexes with nanometer accuracy. We use two-color direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM) to unveil the impact of peptide stoichiometry on polyplex structure and composition and to assess their destabilization in blood serum. Our method provides information about the size and composition of individual polyplexes, allowing the study of such properties on a single polyplex basis. Furthermore, the differences in stoichiometry readily explain the differences in cellular uptake behavior. Thus, quantitative dSTORM of polyplexes is complementary to the currently used characterization techniques for understanding the determinants of polyplex activity in vitro and inside cells.
Subject(s)
Genetic Therapy , Nanoparticles/chemistry , Oligonucleotides/pharmacology , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Cations/chemistry , Cations/pharmacology , Cell-Penetrating Peptides/chemistry , Cell-Penetrating Peptides/pharmacology , Genetic Vectors/chemistry , Genetic Vectors/pharmacology , Green Fluorescent Proteins/chemistry , Green Fluorescent Proteins/pharmacology , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Molecular Imaging , Nanoparticles/administration & dosage , Oligonucleotides/chemistry , Polymers/chemistry , Polymers/pharmacology , RNA, Messenger/chemistry , RNA, Messenger/pharmacology , TransfectionABSTRACT
Supramolecular fibers are prominent structures in biology and chemistry. A quantitative understanding of molecular exchange pathways in these one-dimensional aggregates was obtained by a combination of super-resolution stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy and stochastic simulation. The potential of this methodology is demonstrated with a set of well-defined synthetic building blocks that self-assemble into supramolecular fibrils. Previous ensemble measurements hid all molecular phenomena underpinning monomer exchange, but the molecular pathway determined from single-aggregate studies revealed unexpected homogeneous exchange along the polymer backbone. These results pave the way for experimental investigation of the structure and exchange pathways of synthetic and natural supramolecular fibers.
