The functionalization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been carried out in various ways for numerous applications in biotechnology, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] including for the preparation of sensors, [2,3] as scaffolds for cell growth, [4] imaging reagents, [5] and transporters for drug delivery. [6-8, 13, 15] One way is to immobilize DNA onto the surface of CNTs through noncovalent interactions [8][9][10][11][12][13] or covalent bonds. [3,[12][13][14][15] Covalent-bond approaches might compromise and even spoil the functions of DNA owing to chemical reactions and the difficulty in releasing DNA. [13, 14b, 15] Nevertheless, noncovalent approaches developed to date may only provide metastable immobilization of DNA onto the surface of CNTs. It was reported that the migration of DNA linked covalently to CNTs was retarded in gel electrophoresis but noncovalent interactions between DNA and CNTs did not completely prevent migration.[14b] Polyethylenimine (PEI) is a type of polymer with a high density of amines, thus DNA may be immobilized securely onto the surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) that have been functionalized with PEI through strong electrostatic interactions arising from these amines. Hence, we have adopted a grafting-from approach to prepare polyethylenimine-graft multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PEIg-MWNTs). DNA has been immobilized securely onto the surface of PEI-g-MWNTs as demonstrated by the total inhibition of the migration of DNA in gel electrophoresis, and PEI-g-MWNTs showed transfection efficiency for delivery of DNA that was similar to or even several times higher than that of PEI (25 K) and several orders of magnitude higher than that of naked DNA.PEI was grafted onto the surface of MWNTs by performing a cationic polymerization of aziridine in the presence of amine-functionalized MWNTs (NH 2 -MWNTs). NH 2 -MWNTs were obtained by introducing carboxylic acid groups onto the surface of MWNTs by heating at reflux in 3.0 m nitric acid. The carboxylic acid groups were transformed into acyl chloride groups by treatment with thionyl chloride [16] followed by treatment with ethylenediamine.[14] The grafting of PEI was realized through two mechanisms, the activated monomer mechanism (AMM) or the activated chain mechanism (ACM), by which protonated aziridine monomers or the terminal iminium ion groups of propagation chains, respectively, are transferred to amines on the surface of MWNTs.[17] (see Supporting Information.) The relative amount of PEI grafted onto the surface of MWNTs was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) performed under nitrogen. MWNTs were thermally stable up to 600 8C (Figure 1 A, curve a) whereas pure PEI degraded completely at about 500 8C (Figure 1 A, curve d). At 500 8C, pristine MWNTs, NH 2 -MWNTs, and PEI-g-MWNTs showed negligible, about 2.3 %, and 10.5 % weight losses, respectively, thus PEI-g-MWNTs contained about 8.2 % PEI. Grafting with PEI made PEI-g-MWNTs easy to disperse in water, and the resulting suspension was still stable a...

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A major challenge for non-viral gene delivery is gaining a mechanistic understanding of the rate-limiting steps. A critical barrier in polyplex-mediated gene delivery is the timely unpacking of polyplexes within the target cell to liberate DNA for efficient gene transfer. In this study, the component plasmid DNA and polymeric gene carrier were individually labeled with quantum dots (QDs) and Cy5 dyes, respectively, as a donor and acceptor pair for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The high signal-to-noise ratio in QD-mediated FRET enabled sensitive detection of discrete changes in polyplex stability. The intracellular uptake and dissociation of polyplexes through QD-FRET was captured over time by confocal microscopy. From quantitative image-based analysis, distributions of released plasmid within the endo/lysosomal, cytosolic, and nuclear compartments formed the basis for constructing a three-compartment first-order kinetics model. Polyplex unpacking kinetics for chitosan, polyethylenimine, and polyphosphoramidate were compared and found to correlate well with transfection efficiencies. Thus, QD-FRET-enabled detection of polyplex stability combined with image-based quantification is a valuable method for studying mechanisms involved in polyplex unpacking and trafficking within live cells. We anticipate that this method will also aid the design of more efficient gene carriers.

This study demonstrated the potential of chitosan-g-PEG as a safe and more stable gene carrier to the liver.