Transfection reagents
View Patent ↗Disclosed are compounds capable of facilitating transport of biologically active agents or substances into cells having the general structure: wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of N, O and S; L is any bivalent organic radical capable of linking each Q, such as C, CH, (CH 2 )I, or {(CH 2 )i-Y—(CH 2 )j}k, wherein Y is selected from the group consisting of CH 2 , an ether, a polyether, an amide, a polyamide, an ester, a sulfide, a urea, a thiourea, a guanidyl, a carbamoyl, a carbonate, a phosphate, a sulfate, a sulfoxide, an imine, a carbonyl, and a secondary amino group and wherein Y is optionally substituted by —X 1 -L′-X 2 -Z or -Z; R 1 -R 6 , independently of one another, are selected from the group consisting of H, —(CH 2 )p-D-Z, an alkyl, an alkenyl, an aryl, and an alkyl or alkyl ether optionally substituted by one or more of an alcohol, an aminoalcohol, an amine, an amide, an ether, a polyether, a polyamide, an ester, a mercaptan, an alkylthio, a urea, a thiourea, a guanidyl, or a carbamoyl group, and wherein at least one of R 1 , R 3 , R 4 and R 6 is a straight chain or branched, cyclic, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl or aryl group; and anyone of R 1 , R 3 , R 4 and/or R 6 may optionally be covalently linked with each other, with Y or with L when L is C or CH to form a cyclic moiety; Z is selected from the group consisting of amine, spermiyl, carboxyspermiyl, guanidyl, spermidinyl, putricinyl, diaminoalkyl, pyridyl, piperidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, polyamine, amino acid, peptide, and protein; X 1 and X 2 , independently of one another, are selected from the group consisting of NH, O, S, alkylene, and arylene; L′ is selected from the group consisting of alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, arylene, alkylene ether, and polyether; D is Q or a bond; A 1 and A 2 , independently of one another, are selected from the group consisting of CH 2 O, CH 2 S, CH 2 NH, C(O), C{NH), C(S) and (CH 2 )t; X is a physiologically acceptable anion; m, n, r, s, u, v, w and y are 0 or 1, with the proviso that when both m and n are 0 at least one of r, s, u and y is other than 0; i, j, k, l, p and are integers from 0 to about 100; q is an integer from 1 to about 1000; and a is the number of positive charge divided by the valence of the anion.
1. A compound having the formula:
or a polycation thereof wherein R 4 is a straight-chain, branched or cyclic, alkyl or alkenyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms, R 5 is an alkyl group substituted with one or more amines and one or more alcohols, and R 7 is H or a carbohydrate.
2. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 5 is an alkyl group substituted with one amine and one or more alcohols.
3. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
4. The compound of claim 3 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
5. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 5 is an alkyl group having 3-30 carbon atoms which is substituted by one amine and one or more alcohols.
6. The compound of claim 5 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
7. The compound of claim 6 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
8. The compound of claim 5 , wherein R 5 is a propyl or a butyl group which is substituted by one amine and one or more alcohols.
9. The compound of claim 8 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
10. The compound of claim 9 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
11. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 7 is H.
12. The compound of claim 11 , wherein R 4 is a straight-chain alkyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms.
13. The compound of claim 12 , wherein R 5 is an alkyl group having 3-30 carbon atoms which is substituted with one amine and one or more alcohols.
14. The compound of claim 13 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
15. The compound of claim 14 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
16. The compound of claim 13 , wherein R 5 is a propyl or a butyl group which is substituted by one amine and one or more alcohols.
17. The compound of claim 16 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
18. The compound of claim 17 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
19. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 4 is a straight-chain alkyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms, R 5 is a butyl group substituted with one amine and one or more alcohols, and R 7 is H.
20. The compound of claim 19 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
21. The compound of claim 20 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
22. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 4 is a straight-chain alkyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms, R 5 is a propyl group substituted with one amine and one alcohol, and R 7 is H.
23. The compound of claim 22 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
24. The compound of claim 23 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
25. The compound of claim 19 , which is a polycation.
26. The compound of claim 1 , which is a polycation.
27. A composition comprising one or more cationic compounds of claim 1 solubilized in aqueous medium.
28. The composition of claim 27 , further comprising a neutral lipid.
29. The composition of claim 28 , wherein the neutral lipid is DOPE, DOPC or cholesterol.
30. The composition of claim 28 , wherein the one or more compounds and the neutral lipid are formed into liposomes.
31. The composition of claim 27 , further comprising a transfection enhancer.
32. A composition for transfecting a cell which comprises one or more compounds of claim 1 and one or more nucleic acids.
33. The composition of claim 32 , wherein the nucleic acid is RNA.
34. The composition of claim 32 , further comprising a neutral lipid.
35. The composition of claim 34 , wherein the one or more compounds and the neutral lipid are formed into liposomes.
36. The composition of claim 32 , further comprising a transfection enhancer.
37. A lipid aggregate made by mixing one or more compounds of claim 1 with a nucleic acid for at least 15 minutes to form a complex.
38. The lipid aggregate of claim 37 , further comprising a neutral lipid.
39. The lipid aggregate of claim 38 , wherein the neutral lipid is DOPE, DOPC or cholesterol.
40. The lipid aggregate of claim 37 , wherein the lipid aggregate is 50 to 200 nm in diameter.
41. The lipid aggregate of claim 37 , wherein the lipid aggregate is formed using extrusion, freeze-thaw, or sonication.
42. A kit comprising one or more container means and optionally further comprising one or more additional components selected from the group consisting of a cell, cells, a cell culture media, a nucleic acid and instructions for transfecting a cell or cells wherein said container means comprises one or more cationic compounds of claim 1 .
43. The kit of claim 42 , wherein the one or more cationic compounds are solubilized in aqueous medium.
44. The kit of claim 42 , wherein the one or more cationic compounds are combined with one or more neutral lipids.
45. The kit of claim 44 , wherein the neutral lipids are selected from DOPE, DOPC and cholesterol.
46. The kit of claim 42 , wherein the one or more cationic compounds are formed into liposomes.
47. A method for introducing a polyanion into a cell or cells, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
(a) forming a liposome from one or more compounds having the formula:
or a polycation thereof wherein R 4 is a straight-chain, branched or cyclic, alkyl or alkenyl group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms, R 5 is an alkyl group substituted with one or more amines and one or more alcohols, and R 7 is H or a carbohydrate;
(b) contacting the liposome with the polyanion to form a positively-charged polyanion-liposome complex; and
(c) incubating the complex with a cell or cells to thereby introduce the polyanion into the cell or cells.
48. The method of claim 47 , wherein R 5 is an alkyl group having 3-30 carbon atoms which is substituted with one amine and one or more alcohols.
49. The method of claim 48 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group comprises an aminoethanol, an aminopropanol or an aminobutanol group.
50. The method of claim 49 , wherein the amine substituent of the R 5 alkyl group has the structure:
wherein n is an integer from 7-23.
51. The method of claim 47 , wherein R 7 is H.
52. The method of claim 47 , wherein the one or more compounds is a polycation.
53. The method of claim 47 , wherein the polyanion is a nucleic acid.
54. The method of claim 53 , wherein the nucleic acid is RNA.
55. The method of claim 53 , wherein the nucleic acid inhibits expression of nucleic acids in the cell or cells.
56. The method of claim 47 , wherein the cell or cells are selected from primary cells, tumor cells or cells of immortalized cell lines.
57. The method of claim 47 , wherein the cell or cells are selected from epithelial, fibroblastic, neuronal, or hematopoietic cells.
58. The method of claim 47 , wherein the cell or cells are those of an animal, fish, insect, fungus or plant.
59. The method of claim 47 , wherein the cell or cells are CHO-K1, COS-7, or HEK293 cells.
60. The method of claim 47 , wherein the liposome is formed by combining the one or more cationic compounds with a neutral lipid.
61. The method of claim 60 , wherein the neutral lipid is selected from DOPE, DOPC or cholesterol.