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Designing of nanocarriers that can efficiently deliver therapeutic DNA payload and allow its smooth intracellular release for transgene expression is still a major constraint. The optimization of DNA nanocarriers requires thorough understanding of the chemical and structural characteristics of the vector-nucleic acid complexes and its correlation with the cellular entry, intracellular state and transfection efficiency. L-lysine and L-arginine based cationic peptides alone or in conjugation with other vectors are known to be putative DNA delivery agents. Here we have used L-lysine and L-arginine homopeptides of three different lengths and probed their DNA condensation and release properties by using a multitude of biophysical techniques including fluorescence spectroscopy, gel electrophoresis and atomic force microscopy. Our results clearly showed that although both lysine and arginine based homopeptides condense DNA via electrostatic interactions, they follow different pattern of DNA condensation and release in vitro. While lysine homopeptides condense DNA to form both monomolecular and multimolecular complexes and show differential release of DNA in vitro depending on the peptide length, arginine homopeptides predominantly form multimolecular complexes and show complete DNA release for all peptide lengths. The cellular uptake of the complexes and their intracellular state (as observed through flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy) seem to be controlled by the peptide chemistry. The difference in the transfection efficiency of lysine and arginine homopeptides has been rationalized in light of these observations.

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The market for ultraviolet curing technology has been growing at double-digit rates in the last 10 years. The main reason for such a rapid technological growth of UV curing is its unique process characteristic, which allow UV-coating to be applied on virtually any substrates, including plastic, metal, composite, wood, paper, leather, vinyl, glass, magnetic recording tape and even human teeth. The original driving forces behind the commercialisation of UV-technology were energy saving and freedom from solvents. These benefits are complemented by high productivity and subsequently higher profits that can be achieved with the increased line speed, just-in-time benefits and immediate "pack and ship" capabilities. This paper gives a review of the development of the UV curing technology, with emphasis placed on relevant chemistry.

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