Gene delivery agents possessing antiradical activity: self-assembling cationic amphiphilic 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives

Seventeen 1,4-dihydropyridine (1,4-DHP) amphiphiles including differently substituted pyridinium, pyrazinium, N-methyl piperidinium or N-methyl morpholinium moieties as the cationic head-group of the molecule have been designed and synthesised. 1,4-DHP amphiphiles have been earlier proposed as a promising tool for plasmid DNA (pDNA) delivery in vitro. In this work the ability of the 1,4-DHP amphiphiles to self-assemble, to bind pDNA and to transfer it into the cells as well as the cytotoxicity of 1,4-DHP amphiphiles–pDNA complexes was studied. Furthermore, antiradical activity (ARA) of the 1,4-DHP derivatives was determined. We have revealed that all new 1,4-DHP amphiphiles possessed self-a…