Production of chitosan/nucleic acid nanoparticles

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Polyelectrolyte complexes are nanoparticles that form via electrostatic attraction between a polycation and polyanion. A particular class of these systems is used to introduce genetic material into cells when the polyanion is a nucleic acid sequence like DNA or RNA. We have studied these delivery systems using the polycation chitosan, a natural polymer of glucosamine that is partly acetylated, and plasmid DNA to express genes when delivered to the nucleus. We have also developed nanoparticles containing siRNA which stop expression of the target gene. Patent-pending formulations of these nucleic acid delivery systems have commercial potential as transfection reagents to express proteins in cells or to silence genes through RNA interference and also as therapeutic agents that can be applied to animals and humans for different diseases.