A COMPARISON OF UNILAMELLAR AND MULTILAMELLAR LIPOPLEXES IN TERMS OF TRANSFECTION EFFICIENCY OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC KIDNEY CELLS

Non-viral gene delivery systems have attracted many attentions in the field of gene therapy. Liposome nanoparticles are regarded as one of the most effective non-viral gene delivery vectors. With attention to the fact that one important feature of these carries is their transfection efficiency, in this study we compared the efficiency of unilamellar and multilamellar liposomes in transfecting human embryonic kidney cells by LacZ gene. A liposomal formulation made of DOTAP/DOPE/Cholesterol was fabricated through modified lipid film hydration method. In order to obtain unilamellar lipoplexes extrusion was performed. Lipoplexes were prepared by complexation of liposomes with LacZ gene. Zeta potential, size and polydispersity of lipoplexes and liposomes were measured. In order to determine transfection ability of them, LacZ expression was measured using beta-galactosidase assay. The results show that multilamellar liposomes in spite of their larger sizes have higher transfection compared to unilamellar ones. This is indicative of better performance of multilamellar lipoplexes in gene therapy applications.