Retardation and retention gel assays.

<p>These assays were performed to determine the concentration of KP, and NTS-carrier for specific concentrations of pDNA, which results in functional NTS-polyplex nanoparticles. Each set of gels correspond to a single plasmid. In all cases, the symbol * indicates the condition(s) chosen. Electrophoresis was carried out at 80 V for 45 min on 0.8% agarose gels. TAE 1X was used as running buffer. The gels were stained with ethidium bromide. The numbers at the top of retardation gel photographs correspond to the concentration of KP in µM. M = 1 kb molecular weight markers. C = pDNA alone, DKP = pDNA-KP complex. Images were acquired using Kodak EDAS 290 software.