In this study, we introduced histidine residues into l-arginine grafted PAMAM G4 dendrimers to enhance proton buffering capacity and evaluated the physicochemical characteristics and transfection efficacies in vitro. The results showed that the synthesized PAMAM G4 derivatives effectively delivered pDNA inside cells and the transfection level improved considerably as the number of histidine residues increased. Grafting histidine residues into the established polymer vector PAMAM G4-arginine improved their proton buffering capacity. The cytotoxicity of PAMAM G4 derivatives was tested and it was confirmed that they displayed relatively lower cytotoxicity compared to PEI25KD in various cell lines. Also, confocal microscopy results revealed that PAMAM G4 derivatives effectively delivered pDNA into cells, particularly into the nucleus. These PAMAM dendrimer derivatives conjugated with histidines and arginines may provide a promising polymeric gene carrier system.

Linear polyethylenimine (25 kDa, LPEI25k) has been shown to be an effective non-viral gene carrier with higher transfection and lower toxicity than branched polyethylenimine (BPEI) of comparable molecular weight. In this study, dexamethasone was conjugated to LPEI25k to improve the efficiency of gene delivery. Dexamethasone is a synthetic glucocorticoid receptor ligand. Dexamethasone-conjugated LPEI25k (LPEI-Dexa) was evaluated as a gene carrier in various cells. Gel retardation assays showed that LPEI-Dexa completely retarded plasmid DNA (pDNA) at a 0.75:1 weight ratio (LPEI/pDNA). LPEI-Dexa had the highest transfection efficiency at a 2:1 weight ratio (LPEI-Dexa/DNA). At this ratio, the size of the LPEI-Dexa/pDNA complex was approximately 125 nm and the zeta potential was 35 mV. LPEI-Dexa had higher transfection efficiency than LPEI and Lipofectamine 2000. In addition, the cytotoxicity of LPEI-Dexa was much lower than that of BPEI (25 kDa, BPEI25k). In conclusion, LPEI-Dexa has a high transfection efficiency and low toxicity and can therefore be used for non-viral gene delivery.

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Here, we report novel cationic polydiacetylene-containing nanovesicle system and its application to gene delivery in vitro. The nanovesicle was constructed using a cationic diacetylene monomer lipid (DADMDPA-bis-PCDA) which contains a quaternary ammonium head group. The cationic character of this monomer leads to the electrostatic interaction with genetic materials such as plasmid DNA forming complexes and the diacetylene groups on its hydrophobic moiety provides the further polymerization functionality upon UV irradiation forming polydiacetylene-linkages within the nanovesicle. In the present study, the characteristics of nanovesicle/DNA interaction, and the transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity for the human embryonic kidney cells were characterized and compared between the nonpolymerized and polymerized nanovesicles.

In this report, novel polymer-lipid conjugates were synthesized and their unique micellar and chromic properties were studied. The conjugates were synthesized by the liquid-phase peptide synthesis method using methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-amine (mPEG-NH2, MW2000) as a supporting material. One and two 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) groups were conjugated to mPEG-NH2 to prepare mPEG-PCDA and mPEG-PCDA2, respectively. The polymer conjugates could form nanometer-sized micelles in aqueous media and be further polymerized under the exposure of UV 254 nm due to the UV sensitive nature of PCDA. It was observed that mPEG-PCDA2 micelle showed very distinctive photochromism and thermochromism in response to UV or heat, whereas mPEG-PCDA did not display any chromic properties. Moreover, a distinctive chromic property change was observed by adding alpha-cyclodextrin as a model biological molecule to the micelle solution. Due to their unique properties such as high water-solubility, cross-linkable micelle formation with a nano-scaled size, and stimuli-responsive chromic nature, the polymer-lipid conjugates would be useful for various biomedical applications, in particular as a nano-carrier for drug delivery and biosensor.