Sunfish cationic amphiphiles: toward an adaptative lipoplex morphology

A detailed physicochemical study is presented on a new class of cationic amphiphiles, Sunfish amphiphiles, recently designed, synthesized, and tested for gene delivery. These materials have two hydrophobic tails, connected to the cationic pyridinium headgroup at the 1- and 4-positions. Two extreme morphologies can be visualized, i.e. one by back-folding involving association of both tails at one side of the pyridinium ring and one by independent unfolding of the tails, the two molecular geometries leading to considerable differences in the aggregate morphology. The behavior of six members of the Sunfish family in mixtures with DOPE, applying different conditions relevant for transfection, has been studied by a combination of techniques (DLS, DSC, NMR, SAXS, Cryo-TEM, fluorescence, etc.). The effects of structural parameters such as the presence of unsaturation in the tails and length of the alkyl chains on the properties of the aggregates have been assessed. A correlation of these structural data with cellular transfection efficiencies reveals that the highest transfection efficiency is obtained with those amphiphiles that are easily hydrated, form fluid aggregates, and undergo a transition to the inverted hexagonal phase in the presence of plasmid DNA (p-DNA) at physiological ionic strength.