PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shupeng Wang
AU  - Shaohua Jin
AU  - Guangzhi Li
AU  - Rui Sun
AU  - Qinghai Shu
AU  - Song Wu
TI  - Endosomal explosion induced by hypertonicity enhances chitosan transfection
AID  - 10.1101/730648
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 730648
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/09/730648.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/09/730648.full
AB  - Transferring DNA into cells to regulate cell function is a novel research field in recent decades. Chitosan is a gene vector with the properties of low-cost and safe, but high efficient delivery has remained challenging. We developed a strategy termed EEIH, for endosomal explosion induced by hypertonicity, in which short-time exposure to hypertonic solutions triggers endosomes destabilization like explosions. EEIH can force chitosan/DNA polyplexes to break through the endosomal barriers to approach the nucleus, which results in boosting the transfection efficiency of chitosan in several cell lines. We demonstrate that EEIH is a significant and practical strategy in chitosan transfection system without sophisticated modification of chitosan.