• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.416.2-416.2
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• 2002

Transfersomes are highly detormable hydrophilic lipid vesicles that are able to penetrate the skin barrier so that they can be used to carry low- and high-molecular weight molecules into the body. Until recently. it has been reported that molecules such as insulin. interleukin-2 and several other large molecules have been transported into the body using Transfersomes as a delivery system. Here however, for the very first time, genes (GFP) have been transported into the mice non-invasively using the Transtersomes as a delivery vehicle. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.277.2-278
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• 2002

Synthetic vectors have been considered as a safer and more versatile alternative to viral-based gene delivery systems. A variety of simple synthetic vector systems such as cationic lipid- and polymer-complexed plasmid DNA were shown to have a significant transfection activity in vitro but their use in vivo has been hampered by the decrease in transfection efficiency mediated by non-specific electrostatic interactions with serum components. (omitted)

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2005

Intracellular trafficking of transferrin-conjugated dimethyldioctadecyl-ammonium bromide liposome $(T_f-liposome)/DNA$ complexes in HeLa cells was studied using the double-labeled fluorescence technique and confocal microscopy. The size of the $T_f-liposome/DNA$ complex was about 367 nm in diameter and the zeta-potential of it at a 5:1 (w/w) ratio was almost neutral. The intracellular pathway of the $T_f-liposome/DNA$ complex, noted as green (FITC), red (rhodamine) or yellow (FITC + rhodamine) fluorescence, was elucidated from the plasma membrane to the endosome (or lysosome), and finally to the nucleus. The results of this study indicate that plasmid DNA enters into the nucleus not only as a free form but as an associated form complexed with $T_f-liposome$. More interestingly, the $T_f-liposome$ undergoes a nuclear location in the form of ordered structures. This could be a very useful piece of information in designing a safe and advanced gene delivery system.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.226.3-227
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• 2003

A cationic lipid emulsion (o/w) containing lipiodol and 1, 2-dioleoyl-sn- glycero-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) has been prepared as a gene delivery system. In order to increase the transfection efficiency of the lipiodol emulsion, 1 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine (DOPE) and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) were incorporated as additional lipids. By including DOPE and Tween 80, the cationic emulsion became a more potent gene carrier under in vitro condition in the presence of serum, and under in vivo condition. (omitted)

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 2001

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is known to cause cervical cancers. Human papillomavirus-like particles (VLP) have been studied as preventive vaccines of cervical cancers. To develop VLP as a therapeutic gene carrier, we studied the method to encapsulate cytokine genes in virus-like particles. HPV type 16 capsid L1 genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and cloned into T vector. L1 gene was then inserted into baculovirus transfer vector. The clone of baculovirus encoding L1 gene was isolated and used to express L1 protein in Sf 21 insect cells. VLP were purified by CsCl density gradient and ultracentrifugation. VLP were disassembled to capsomer units by treatment of a reducing agent. Given that interleukin-2 (IL-2) genes have been used in anticancer gene therapy and as a molecular adjuvant, IL-2 cytokine plasmids were chosen as a model gene. IL-2 plasmids were incubated with the disassembled capsomer suspension. To reassemble the particles, the mixture of capsomers and cytokine plasmids was dialyzed. The disassembly and reassembly of VLP were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The entrapment of cytokine plasmids in reassembled VLP was tested by the stability of plasmids against DNase I. After treatment of reassembled virus-like particles with DNase I, discrete IL-2 DNA band was observed. Our results indicate that IL-2 cytokine plasmid (3.5 kb size) can be encapsulated in the virus-like particles, suggesting the potential of VLP as a gene delivery system. Moreover, VLP containing the adjuvant cytokine plasmids might function as more effective subunit vaccines.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.218-222
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• 2005

Transferrin-conjugated liposomes ($T_f$-liposomes) were made and formulated with pCMVluc DNA to form a lipoplex. Among the various formulations studied, the $T_f$-liposome: pCMVluc DNA complex at a ratio of 5: 1 (wt/wt) showed the highest transfection efficiency, which was twice that of $Lipofectin^{TM}$ on HeLa cells. The maxi-mum tolerated dose (MTD) of this lipoplex formulation from a single intravenous injection was over 10 mg/kg in healthy ICR mice. The RT-PCR results showed that the highest level of luciferase mRNA was detected in the lungs, followed by the liver, spleen, heart and kidneys, after an intravenous injection into mice. Two weeks after the injection, the levels of luciferase mRNA decreased gradually in the liver, spleen, heart, and kidney, but not in the lungs. The micro-array study showed that the cancer-related genes, including the bcl 6 gene, were highly up-regulated by the treatment with $T_f$-liposome/ pCMVluc DNA complex on HeLa cells, indicating that there were possible interactions between the host chromosomal DNA and the $T_f$-liposome within the cells. The results obtained from this study are expected to be useful for designing a safe and efficient gene delivery system using transferrin-conjugated liposomes.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2006

Delivery of DNA vaccines to airway mucosa would be an ideal method for mucosal immunization. However, there have been few reports of a suitable gene delivery system. In this study we used a cationic emulsion to immunize mice via the intranasal route with pCMV-S coding for Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg). Complexing pCMV-S with a cationic emulsion dramatically enhanced HBsAg expression in both nasal tissue and lung, and was associated with increases in the levels of HBs-specific Abs in serum and mucosal fluids, of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in the spleen and cervical and iliac lymph nodes, and of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) against HBsAg. In contrast, very weak humoral and cellular immunities were observed following immunization with naked DNA. In support of these observations, a higher proliferative response of spleenocytes was detected in the group immunized with the emulsion/pCMV-S complex than in the group immunized with naked pCMV-S. These findings may facilitate development of an emulsion-mediated gene vaccination technique for use against intracellular pathogens that invade mucosal surfaces.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.318-324
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• 2006

In order to develop an oral vaccine to prevent H. pylori infection, we have expressed the hpaA gene of H. pylori K51 isolated from Korean patients, encoding 29-kDa HpaA that is known to be localized on the cell surface and flagella sheath, in a live delivery vector system, Lactococcus lactis. The hpaA gene, amplified by PCR using the genomic DNA of H. pylori K51, was cloned in the pGEX-2T vector, and the DNA sequence analysis revealed that the hpaA gene of H. pylori K51 had 99.7% and 94.8% identity with individual hpaA genes of the H. pylori 26695 strain (U.K) and the J99 strain (U.S.A). A polyclonal anti-HpaA antibody was raised in rats using GST-HpaA fusion protein as the antigen. The hpaA gene was inserted in an E. coli-L. lactis-shuttle vector (pMG36e) to express in L. lactis. Western blot analysis showed that the expression level of HpaA in the L. lactis transformant remained constant from the exponential phase to the stationary phase, without extracelluar secretion. These results indicate that the HpaA of H. pylori K51 was successfully expressed in L. lactis, and suggest that the recombinant L. lactis expressing HpaA may be applicable as an oral vaccine to induce a protective immune response against H. pylori.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.593-602
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• 2010

Chitosan as a natural polymer has superior physicochemical properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and nontoxicity, but application of chitosan for therapy of cancer and gene related-disease has been limited by poor solubility in aqueous solution. Therefore, low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (LMWSC) with high reactivity and strong positive charge can be applied as a delivery system having function to carry in the specific tissue the bioactive material like poor solubility drug, or therapeutic gene and developed as a therapeutic system having good therapeutic efficiency. The most important factor for therapy of various diseases is to reveal the antigen or receptor expressed in specific lesion tissue and the antibody and ligand which can bind with antigen is to introduce at the biomaterials for enhancement the therapeutic efficiency. The studies for cationic synthetic polymer as drug or gene delivery have been actively performed, but it has many problems such as toxicity in the body, therapeutic efficiency. From this point of view, this article demonstrated the introduction of functional groups to target the specific tissue and therapeutic strategy using the modification of LMWSC with free-amine group. The development of these delivery system will provide a positive vision for cancer therapy.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.181-184
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• 2002

This study reports the encapsulation of plasmid DNA in erythrocyte ghosts. The plasmid DNA was encapsulated into erythrocyte ghosts using three methods; osmotic shock, electroporation in isotonic medium, and e1ectroporation in hypotonic medium. Of three methods, electroporation in hypotonic medium resulted in the highest encapsulation efficiency of plasmid DNA. The morphology of erythrocyte ghosts prepared by electroporation in hypotonic medium was similar to that by osmotic shock alone. The circulation time of plasmid DNA in mice was prolonged by administration in erythrocyte ghost-encapsulated forms. These results indicated the potential of erythrocyte ghosts for biocompative nonviral delivery system of therapeutic genes for hematological diseases.