Coarse-grained Molecular Simulation Studies of Complexation of Sulfobetaine-Lysine Copolymer and DNA for Gene Delivery

Gene delivery involves successful transfection of therapeutic DNA by a vector into target cells and protein expression of that genetic material. Viral vectors are effective at gene delivery but elicit harmful immunogenic responses, thus motivating ongoing research on non-viral transfection agents. Cationic polymers are a promising class of non-viral vectors due to their low immugenic responses and low toxicity, and their ability to bind to the polyanionic DNA backbone to form a polycation-DNA complex (polyplex) that is then internalized in the target cell. While past studies have shown many polycations with differing DNA transfection efficacies, there is a need for general design guidelines that can relate the molecular features of the polycation to its DNA transfection efficiency. Using atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations we connect polycation design to polycation-DNA binding and experimentally observed transfection efficiency. Specifically in this presentation we will discuss our recent work looking into the effect of incorporating zwitterions into lysine based polycations on the resulting polyplex structure, shape, surface charge density and stability of DNA-polycation complexes.