Calcium‐Alginate Nanoparticles Formed by Reverse Microemulsion as Gene Carriers

Abstract

Abstract Natural biopolymers are widely used in the field of drug and gene delivery. In this study, alginate nanoparticles were prepared using water‐in‐oil microemulsion as a template followed by calcium crosslinking of guluronic acid units of alginate polymer. After collected by ultracentrifugation, alginate nanoparticles were analyzed by electron microscopy to obtain the size and morphology which were varied with the ratio of water, oil, and surfactant used. To examine the potency of Ca‐alginate nanoparticles as carriers for gene delivery, GFP‐encoding plasmids were encapsulated in these nanoparticles to investigate the degree of endocytosis by NIH 3T3 cells and ensuing transfection rate. Our results showed that Ca‐alginate nanoparticles with an average size around 80 nm in diameter are very efficient gene carriers, in comparison with plasmid DNA condensed by polyethyleneimine (PEI).