Oligoarginine-modified chitosan for siRNA delivery

Abstract

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been widely investigated as a potential therapeutic for treatment of various diseases. However, naked siRNA is rapidly degraded by nucleases, showing poor cellular uptake and low transfection efficiency. Chitosan-based nanoparticles have been extensively exploited as a gene delivery carrier due to low toxicity and positively charged amino groups of chitosan. In this study, we synthesized 9R-modified chitosan and used it to form stable nanoparticles in the presence of siRNA. Various physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles, including size, surface charge, and complex forming ability, were investigated.