Effect of Dexamethasone Preincubation on Polymer-Mediated Gene Delivery

摘要

Nuclear membrane is one of the main barriers in intracellular delivery of genetic materials. The previous report showed that glucocorticoid receptor dilated the nuclear pore to 60 nm in the presence of a ligand. It was also suggested that the transport of genetic material to nucleus might be facilitated by glucocorticoid. In this study, the effect of glucocorticoid preincubation in the polymeric gene delivery was investigated. The cells were preincubated with dexamethasone, a potent glucocorticoid, and transfection assays were performed with polyethylenimine (PEI) and polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer. As a result, the transfection efficiency of PEI or PAMAM to the cells in the presence of dexamethasone was enhanced, compared to the cells without dexamethasone. This effect was not observed in the cells preincubated with cholesterol. The polymer/DNA complex was stable in the presence of dexamethasone. In addition, the cytotoxicities of the polymeric carriers to the cells were observed in the presence of dexamethasone. In conclusion, dexamethasone enhances the transfection efficiency of polymeric carriers and may be useful in the development of polymeric gene carriers.