Abstract
To deliver genes, we used a complex made from DNA and cationic lipids that is called “lipoplex”. In this study, we prepared lipoplexes consisting of an aromatic amine compound and various short single chains of DNA with the different lengths and bases, and evaluated the structures of the lipoplexes by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and circular dichroism (CD). SAXS showed that the transition from a spherical to lamellar structure was observed between dA3 and dA4 when dA was added. dT showed the same tendency between dT4 and dT5. The CD analysis revealed that each oligonucleotide forms a different conformation after the complexation. dA maintained the conformation in the lipoplex, but dT broke it up. These differences are attributed to the hydrophobicity of the each base structure between dA and dT. These data indicate that the each oligonucleotide has a different strength to maintain the stacking of base.
