Oligonucleotide analogs have provided novel therapeutics targeting various disorders. However, their poor cellular uptake remains a major obstacle for their clinical development. Negatively charged oligonucleotides, such as 2'-O-Methyl RNA and locked nucleic acids have in recent years been delivered successfully into cells through complex formation with cationic polymers, peptides, liposomes, o...

In a new polymorph of the title salt, [Ni(H2O)6](C6H4NO3)2, the metal atom of the cationic complex lies on a symmetry centre and is coordinated by six water mol-ecules to provide a quite regular octa-hedral coordination environment. These cations inter-act with 6-oxo-1,6-di-hydro-pyridine-3-carboxyl-ate anions through electrostatic inter-actions and by means of O-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds in...

Title of Document: MEASURING INTERACTIONS OF DNA WITH CATIONIC CARRIERS AT THE SINGLE MOLECULE LEVEL: A STEP TOWARD A RATIONAL DESIGN OF CATIONIC CARRIERS TO REACH MAXIMUM TRANSFECTION EFFICIENCY Amy Lee, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Directed By: Assistant Professor Joonil Seog, Department of Materials Science and Engineering Gene delivery has seen limited clinical success due to poor transfectio...

We recently developed a novel tumor-targeted gene delivery system responding to hyperactivated intracellular signals. Polymeric carrier for gene delivery consists of hydrophilic neutral polymer as main chains and cationic peptide substrate for target enzyme as side chains, and was named polymer-peptide conjugate (PPC). Introduction of chondroitin sulfate (CS), which induces receptor-medicated e...

In this study, we developed an antigen-presenting cell (APC)-selective intraperitoneal (i.p.) gene delivery system with mannosylated cationic liposomes (Man-liposomes)/plasmid DNA complex (Man-lipoplex). An in vitro study using cultured peritoneal macrophages demonstrated that Man-liposomes could transfect luciferase-encoding plasmid DNA (pCMV-Luc) more efficiently than cationic liposomes via a...

The effects of sublethal amounts of the cationic dye, neutral red, upon the structure of pancreatic exocrine cells, and upon the mitochondria of renal distal tubule cells, have been studied with the electron microscope. It was found that neutral red is a cytoplasmic toxin which causes reproducible and characteristic changes in the ergastoplasm, the zymogen granules, the mitochondria, and possib...

Human mesotrypsin is an isoform of trypsin that displays unusual resistance to polypeptide trypsin inhibitors and has been observed to cleave several such inhibitors as substrates. Whereas substitution of arginine for the highly conserved glycine 193 in the trypsin active site has been implicated as a critical factor in the inhibitor resistance of mesotrypsin, how this substitution leads to acc...

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in biology and medicine requires a molecular-level understanding of how NPs interact with cells in a physiological environment. A critical difference between well-controlled in vitro experiments and in vivo applications is the presence of a complex mixture of extracellular proteins. It has been established that extracellular serum proteins present in blood will ad...

The preclinical in vitro and in vivo benchmark figures of cationic antimicrobial peptides have to be revisited based on the newly discovered alternative modes of action.

A single animal can express several cationic antimicrobial peptides with different sequences and structures. We demonstrate that mammalian peptides from different structural classes frequently show synergy with each other and selectively show synergy with human lysozyme.