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Re-endothelialization is a critical problem to inhibit postoperative restenosis, and gene delivery exhibits great potential in rapid endothelialization. Unfortunately, the therapeutic effect is enormously limited by inefficient specificity, poor biocompatibility and in vivo stability owing largely to the complicated in vivo environment. Herein, we developed a series of platelet membrane (PM) cloaked gene complexes based on natural bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI). The gene complexes aimed to accelerate re-endothelialization for anti-restenosis via pcDNA3.1-VEGF165 (VEGF) plasmid delivery. Based on BSA and PM coating, these gene complexes exhibited good biocompatibility, stability with serum and robust homing to endothelium-injured site inherited from platelets. Besides, they enhanced the expression of VEGF protein by their high internalization and nucleus accumulation efficiency, and also substantially promoted migration and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells. The biological properties were further optimized via altering PEI and PM content. Finally, rapid recovery of endothelium in a carotid artery injured mouse model (79% re-endothelialization compared with model group) was achieved through two weeks' treatment by the PM cloaked gene complexes. High level of expressed VEGF in vivo was also realized by the gene complexes. Moreover, neointimal hyperplasia (IH) was significantly inhibited by the gene complexes according to in vivo study. The results verified the great potential of the PM cloaked gene complexes in re-endothelialization for anti-restenosis. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Rapid re-endothelialization is a major challenge to inhibit postoperative restenosis. Herein, a series of biodegradable and biocompatible platelet membrane (PM) cloaked gene complexes were designed to accelerate re-endothelialization for anti-restenosis via pcDNA3.1-VEGF165 (VEGF) plasmid delivery. The PM cloaked gene complexes provided high VEGF expression in vascular endothelial cells (VECs), rapid migration and proliferation of VECs and robust homing to endothelium-injured site. In a carotid artery injured mouse model, PM cloaked gene complexes significantly promoted VEGF expression in vivo, accelerated re-endothelialization and inhibited neointimal hyperplasia due to their good biocompatibility and superior specificity. Overall, the optimized PM cloaked gene complexes overcomes multiple obstacles in gene delivery for re-endothelialization and can be a promising candidate for gene delivery and therapy of postoperative restenosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, and the manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that this work described was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed., (Copyright © 2022 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Rapid endothelialization on small diameter artificial blood vessels is an effective strategy to facilitate long-term patency and inhibit thrombosis. The gene delivery can enhance the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells (ECs), which is beneficial for rapid endothelialization. REDV-G-TAT-G-NLS-Cys (abbreviated as TP-G) peptide could weakly condense pEGFP-ZNF580 (pZNF580) and transfect ECs, but its transfection efficiency was still very low because of its low positive charge, low stability and weak endosome escape ability. In order to develop more stable and efficient gene carriers with low cytotoxicity, in the present study, we conjugated different amounts of TP-G peptide onto poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-g-polyethylenimine (PLGA-g-PEI) amphiphilic copolymers via a hetero-poly(ethylene glycol) spacer (OPSS-PEG-NHS). The TP-G peptide and PEI could cooperatively and strongly condense pZNF580. The carrier's cytotoxicity was reduced by the introduction of poly(ethylene glycol) spacer. They condensed pZNF580 to form gene complexes (PPP-TP-G/pZNF580) with suitable size and positive zeta potential for gene delivery. The transfected ECs promoted their migration ability as demonstrated by cell migration assay. The results of cellular uptake and confocal laser scanning microscopy showed significantly high internalization efficiency, endosomal/lysosomal escape and nucleus location of pZNF580 by this multifunctional TP-G peptide sequence conjugated gene delivery system. Furthermore, several inhibitors were used to study the cellular uptake pathways of PPP-TP-G/pZNF580 complexes. The results showed that PPP-TP-G2/Cy5-oligonucleotide complexes exhibited the optimized endocytosis pathways which facilitated for cellular uptake. In conclusion, the multifunctional TP-G peptide conjugated gene carriers could promote the transfection efficiency due to the multifunction of REDV, cell-penetrating peptide and nuclear localization signal in the peptide sequence, which could be a suitable gene carrier for endothelialization., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this work, a biodegradable star-shaped copolymer poly(lactide-co-3(S)-methyl-morpholine-2,5-dione) 6 (Star-(PLMD) 6 ) was synthesized via ring-opening polymerization (ROP), and subsequently a gene carrier Star-PLMD-g-PEI-g-PEG-CREDVW was prepared by grafting polyethyleneimine (PEI), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and targeting peptide REDV onto Star-(PLMD) 6 . This gene carrier could form stable micelles to condense pEGFP-ZNF580 through electrostatic interaction. The resulting complexes were biocompatible and showed high efficiency in gene delivery. In addition, these complexes exhibited high selectivity for endothelial cells (ECs), high transfection efficiency and enhanced migration of ECs. The protein level of ZNF580 expression was significantly high (up to 85%), while the control group was only 51%. This combination of degradability, targeting ligand and star-structure strategy exhibits a significant advantage in transfection efficiency and migration of ECs.

The gene transfection efficiency of polyethylenimine (PEI) varies with its molecular weight. Usually, high molecular weight of PEI means high gene transfection, as well as high cytotoxicity in gene delivery in vivo. In order to enhance the transfection efficiency and reduce the cytotoxicity of PEI-based gene carriers, a novel cationic gene carrier was developed by co-self-assembly of cationic copolymers. First, a star-shaped copolymer poly(3(S)-methyl-morpholine-2,5-dione-co-lactide) (P(MMD-co-LA)) was synthesized using D-sorbitol as an initiator, and the cationic copolymer (P(MMD-co-LA)-g-PEI) was obtained after grafting low-molecular weight PEI. Then, by co-self-assembly of this cationic copolymer and a diblock copolymer methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG)-b-P(MMD-co-LA), microparticles (MPs) were formed. The core of MPs consisted of a biodegradable block of P(MMD-co-LA), and the shell was formed by mPEG and PEI blocks. Finally, after condensation of pEGFP-ZNF580 by these MPs, the plasmids were protected from enzymatic hydrolysis effectively. The result indicated that pEGFP-ZNF580-loaded MP complexes were suitable for cellular uptake and gene transfection. When the mass ratio of mPEG-b-P(MMD-co-LA) to P(MMD-co-LA)-g-PEI reached 3/1, the cytotoxicity of the complexes was very low at low concentration (20 μg mL -1 ). Additionally, pEGFP-ZNF580 could be transported into endothelial cells (ECs) effectively via the complexes of MPs/pEGFP-ZNF580. Wound-healing assay showed that the transfected ECs recovered in 24 h. Cationic MPs designed in the present study could be used as an applicable gene carrier for the endothelialization of artificial blood vessels., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Nowadays, gene transfer technology has been widely used to promote endothelialization of artificial vascular grafts. However, the lack of gene vectors with low cytotoxicity and targeting function still remains a pressing challenge. Herein, polyethylenimine (PEI, 1.8 kDa or 10 kDa) was conjugated to an amphiphilic and biodegradable diblock copolymer poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (mPEG-b-PLGA) to prepare mPEG-b-PLGA-g-PEI copolymers with the aim to develop gene vectors with low cytotoxicity while high transfection efficiency. The micelles were prepared from mPEG-b-PLGA-g-PEI copolymers by self-assembly method. Furthermore, Cys-Arg-Glu-Asp-Val-Trp (CREDVW) peptide was linked to micelle surface to enable the micelles with special recognition for endothelial cells (ECs). In addition, pEGFP-ZNF580 plasmids were condensed into these CREDVW-linked micelles to enhance the proliferation of ECs. These CREDVW-linked micelle/pEGFP-ZNF580 complexes exhibited low cytotoxicity by MTT assay. The cell transfection results demonstrated that pEGFP-ZNF580 could be transferred into ECs efficiently by these micelles. The results of Western blot analysis showed that the relative ZNF580 protein level in transfected ECs increased to 76.9%. The rapid migration of transfected ECs can be verified by wound healing assay. These results indicated that CREDVW-linked micelles could be a suitable gene transfer vector with low cytotoxicity and high transfection efficiency, which has great potential for rapid endothelialization of artificial blood vessels.

Polyethylenimine (PEI) can perfectly condense with DNA and sufficiently transfer genes, but its high toxicity limits its application. Here, complex micelles are prepared as low-toxicity gene vectors by self-assembly of two block copolymers in aqueous solution. The complex micelles consist of a biodegradable poly(lactide- co-glycolide) (PLGA) core and a mixed poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/PEI shell. The ZNF580 gene plasmid (pEGFP-ZNF580), which has the ability of enhancing the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells, is encapsulated into the complex micelles. Using dynamic light scattering, the degradation behavior of the micelles is investigated in vitro. The hydrodynamic size and zeta potential of blank and DNA-loaded micelles are feasible to cellular uptake and gene transfection. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay shows that the cytotoxicity of the complex micelles is very low when the PEG/PEI ratio is 3/1. The DNA-loaded micelles are found to be able to enhance the proliferation of endothelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gene therapy has been developed and used in medical treatment for many years, especially for the enhancement of endothelialization and angiogenesis. But slow endosomal escape rate is still one of the major barriers to successful gene delivery. In order to evaluate whether introducing oligohistidine (Hn) sequence into gene carriers can promote endosomal escape and gene transfection or not, we designed and synthesized Arg-Glu-Asp-Val (REDV) peptide functionalized TAT-NLS-Hn (TAT: typical cell-penetrating peptide, NLS: nuclear localization signals, Hn: oligohistidine sequence, n: 4, 8 and 12) peptides with different Hn sequence lengths. pEGFP-ZNF580 (pZNF580) was condensed by these peptides to form gene complexes, which were used to transfect human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Results: MTT assay showed that the gene complexes exhibited low cytotoxicity for HUVECs. The results of cellular uptake and co-localization ratio demonstrated that the gene complexes prepared from TAT-NLS-Hn with long Hn sequence (n = 12) benefited for high internalization efficiency of pZNF580. In addition, the results of western blot analysis and PCR assay of REDV-TAT-NLS-H12/pZNF580 complexes showed significantly enhanced gene expression at protein and mRNA level. Wound healing assay and transwell migration assay also confirmed the improved proliferation and migration ability of the transfected HUVECs by these complexes. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis assay illustrated that these complexes could promote the tube formation ability of HUVECs. Conclusion: The above results indicated that the delivery efficiency of pZNF580 and its expression could be enhanced by introducing Hn sequence into gene carriers. The Hn sequence in REDV-TAT-NLS-Hn is beneficial for high gene transfection. These REDV and Hn functionalized TAT-NLS peptides are promising gene carriers in gene therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomimetic scaffolds have been investigated for vascular tissue engineering for many years. However, the design of an ideal biodegradable vascular scaffold is still in progress. The optimization of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/silk fibroin (PLGA/SF) blend composition was performed to provide the designed scaffolds with adequate mechanical properties and favorable biocompatibility for the intended application. By systematically varying the weight ratio of PLGA and SF, we could control fiber diameter and hydrophilicity as well as mechanical properties of the fibrous scaffolds. These scaffolds with a weight ratio of PLGA/SF at 70/30 exhibited excellent performance, such as tensile strength of 1.5 ± 0.1 MPa, and elongation at break of 77.4 ± 6.4%. Therefore, PLGA/SF scaffold with a weight ratio of 70/30 was chose as the matrix because it matches at best the mechanical demands for application in vascular tissue engineering. In order to promote the endothelialization of electrospun scaffolds, we used pEGFP-ZNF580 plasmid (pZNF580) complexes to modify the electrospun scaffolds by electrospraying technique. pZNF580 complexes were prepared from pZNF580 and microparticles (MPs) of amphiphilic copolymer methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(3(S)-methyl-2,5-morpholinedione-co-glycolide)-graft-polyethyleneimine. Negatively charged PLGA/SF fibers adsorbed the positively charged MPs via physical deposition and electrostatic force. Scanning electron microscope image indicated the forming of composite scaffold and MPs did not change fiber’s shape and 3-D structure. Cell culture experiments demonstrated that the scaffolds modified with MPs/pZNF580 complexes could promote human umbilical vein endothelial cell growth and inhibit human umbilical artery smooth muscle cell proliferation. Our results indicated that the composite scaffolds with MPs/pZNF580 complexes could be used as a potential scaffold for vascular tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]