Sixteen Different Types of Lipid-Conjugated siRNAs Containing Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Exhibiting Enhanced RNAi Potency

ACS Chem Biol. 2021 Jan 15;16(1):150-164. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00847. Epub 2020 Dec 21.

Abstract

SiRNAs are strong gene-silencing agents that function in a target sequence-specific manner. Although siRNAs might one day be used in therapy for intractable diseases such as cancers, a number of problems with siRNAs must first be overcome. In this study, we developed 16 different types of lipid-conjugated siRNAs (lipid-siRNAs) that could effectively inhibit the expression of target genes. We determined the hybridization properties, cellular uptake efficacies, and RNAi potencies of the resulting lipid-siRNAs. The lipid-siRNAs exhibited a mild interaction with Lipofectamine RNAiMAX (LFRNAi) as a transfection reagent, and a high membrane permeability was observed in all lipid-siRNAs-LFRNAi complexes; the conjugate siRNAs composed of 16-18 carbon chains as fatty acids showed an especially good cellular uptake efficacy. The in vitro RNAi effect of lipid-siRNAs targeted to a β-catenin gene exhibited a strong RNAi potency compared with those of unmodified siRNAs. In particular, the conjugate siRNAs composed of 16-18 carbon chains as fatty acids showed excellent RNAi potencies with prolonged effectivities. Interestingly, the RNAi potencies of conjugate siRNAs containing 18 carbon chains with a trans-form (elaidic acid and trans-vaccenic acid) were inferior to those of the carbon chains with a cis-form (oleic acid and cis-vaccenic acid). These lipid-siRNAs can solve the many problems hindering the clinical application of siRNAs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / chemistry*
  • Gene Silencing
  • HT29 Cells
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • Lipids / chemistry*
  • Liposomes
  • RNA Interference*
  • RNA, Small Interfering / chemistry*

Substances

  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
  • Lipids
  • Liposomes
  • RNA, Small Interfering