Microfluidic assembly and biomimetic lipid coating modulate the structure, stability, and biological interactions of P(DMAEMA-co-SMA)/DNA lipopolyplexes

The study, carried out in collaboration with research teams from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) in Crete, the Centre for Polymers and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the University of Greenwich at Medway, was published in the leading journal in the field of biopolymers International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2026, 346, 150678).

Co-authors of the publication entitled “Microfluidic assembly and biomimetic lipid coating modulate the structure, stability, and biological interactions of P(DMAEMA-co-SMA)/DNA lipopolyplexes” are I. Tsichlis, A. Vardaxi, T. Gomez, A. Athanasaki, A. Forys, B. Trzebicka, S. C. W. Richardson, K. Chrissopoulou, S. H. Anastasiadis, S. Pispas, D. Douroumis and C. Demetzos.

The aim of the study is the development of biomimetic hybrid nanocarriers composed of lipids, cationic copolymers and DNA for gene therapy applications, using microfluidic techniques and electrostatic macromolecular complexation. The resulting mixed lipid/copolymer/gene nanostructures (lipopolyplexes) were investigated using an extensive range of complementary physicochemical characterization techniques, followed by a detailed biological evaluation of their properties and interactions.