Comparing transfection efficiency and safety for antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide between phospholipids-based microbubbles and liposomes

Objective: To compare transfection efficiency and safety for antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODNs) between two type of phospholipids-based vectors. Methods: An AS-ODNs sequence HA824 combined with luciferase reporter plasmid was used. Under low intensity ultrasound (US), a breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3 was exposed to different concentration of microbubbles and liposomes. Transfection efficiency was detected by fluorescence microscopy. Cell viability was verified by propidium iodide assay. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the inhibitory effect of HA824 on HER-2 expression at mRNA level. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) scanning techniques was employed to observe the change of membrane pore size. Results: AS-ODNs transfection efficiency showed an increasing tend with microbubble concentration, but not with liposome concentration. Maximum transfection efficiency with minimum cell viability was achieved under 2% microbubble concentration. Too strong sonoporation activity would enlarge membrane pores significantly and cause low cell viability. Conclusion: US-mediated AS-ODNs transfection enhanced by phospholipids-based microbubbles represents an effective and safe avenue.