Correlation of molecular parameters with lipoplex structure and transfection efficacy in pyridinium-based cationic lipids

Although promising, cationic lipid-mediated gene delivery can still be improved. In particular, significant improvements are needed in lipid design, lipoplex formulation and intracellular delivery. Pyridinium-based cationic amphiphiles represent a class of nonviral lipid vectors that have shown much promise as gene delivery vectors. In this study, the synthesis of pyridinium-based cationic lipid vectors, namely Di16:0 and Di16:1, is described, together with the structural characterization of the lipid-DNA complexes from small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and the preliminary in vitro lipid-DNA lipoplex delivery into CHO-K1 cells.