Cationic Phosphonolipids Containing Quaternary Phosphonium and Arsonium Groups for DNA Transfection with Good Efficiency and Low Cellular Toxicity**

Abstract

Replacing the ammonium polar head in cationic lipids 1 (A=N) by a phosphonium or an arsonium group (A=P, As) improves their properties as synthetic vectors for DNA transfection. The increased volume of the cationic head is supposed to modify the interactions of the vector with the solvent and DNA.