چکیده (انگلیسی):

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using pectinate micro/nanoparticles as
gene delivery systems. Pectinate micro/nanoparticles were produced by ionotropic gelation. Various
factors were studied for their effects on the preparation of pectinate micro/nanoparticles: the pH of the
pectin solution, the ratio of pectin to the cation, the concentration of pectin and the cation, and the type
of cation (calcium ions, magnesium ions and manganese ions). After the preparation, the size and charge
of the pectin micro/nanoparticles and their DNA incorporation efficiency were evaluated. The results
showed that the particle sizes decreased with the decreased concentrations of pectin and cation. The type
of cations affected the particle size. Sizes of calcium pectinate particles were larger than those of
magnesium pectinate and manganese pectinate particles. The DNA loading efficiency showed that Capectinate
nanoparticles could entrap DNA up to 0.05 mg when the weight ratio of pectin:CaCl2:DNAwas
0.2:1:0.05. However, Mg-pectinate could entrap only 0.01 mg DNA when the weight ratio of pectin:
MgCl2:DNA was 1:100:0.01 The transfection efficiency of both Ca-pectinate and Mg-pectinate
nanoparticles yielded relatively low levels of green fluorescent protein expression and low cytotoxicity
in Huh7 cells. Given the negligible cytotoxic effects, these pectinate micro/nanoparticles can be
considered as potential candidates for use as safe gene delivery carriers.