In the present study, we found that plasmid DNA could induce single-chained cationic surfactants cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and dodecyltriethyl ammonium bromide (DEAB) to form vesicles once its concentration reached a critical value. Moreover, the gene for follicle-stimulating hormone was delivered into cells with these single-chained cationic surfactant/DNA vesicles and the transfection efficiency was comparable to that with lipofectamine™ 2000, a famous and widely used commercial transfection reagent, and also to that using electroporation method, although it was generally thought conventional single-chained cationic surfactant was not suitable for gene transfer. The conventional single-chained cationic surfactant is very cheap and stable and the vesicles are very easy to be prepared. Thereby, this study may suggest that the vesicles formed between plasmid DNA and surfactant should be prospective to transfer DNA.

Single-chained cationic surfactant dodecyl triethyl ammonium bromide and plasmid DNA together can form vesicles once the concentration of plasmid DNA reaches a critical value (Ccvc). Bigger the size of plasmid DNA, higher the value of Ccvc.