Comparative Evaluation of Liposomes and Niosomes in Gene Delivery

The current study used HEK293 and HeLa cell lines to compare liposomes and niosomes as nanocarriers for gene transfer. After preparing and characterizing liposomal and niosomal formulations containing GFP-encoding plasmid DNA, the effectiveness and cytotoxicity of transfection were evaluated in vitro. According to ANOVA and post hoc analysis, liposomes demonstrated a considerably greater transfection efficiency than niosomes in both cell lines (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, cytotoxicity tests showed that niosomes retained somewhat improved biocompatibility, but variations in cell viability remained statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). These results show that niosomes provide a safer substitute with decreased cytotoxicity, indicating a trade-off between efficiency and safety, even though liposomes perform better at delivering genes. Therefore, the study offers a comparison framework for choosing appropriate nanocarriers for upcoming gene therapy applications.