We synthesized a
series of poly(disulfide)s by ring-opening polymerization
and demonstrated that the copolymerization of monomer 1 containing
diethylenetriamine moieties and monomer 2 containing guanidyl ligands
could generate an efficient delivery platform for different forms
of CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editors, including plasmid, mRNA, and
protein. The excellent delivery performance of designed poly(disulfide)s
stems from their delicate molecular structures to interact with genome-editing
biomacromolecules, unique delivery pathways to mediate the cellular
uptake of CRISPR-Cas9 cargoes, and strong ability to escape the endosome.
The degradation of poly(disulfide)s by intracellular glutathione not
only promotes the timely release of CRISPR-Cas9 machineries into the
cytosol but also minimizes the cytotoxicity that nondegradable polymeric
carriers often encounter. These merits collectively account for the
excellent ability of poly(disulfide)s to mediate different forms of
CRISPR-Cas9 for their efficient genome-editing activities in vitro
and in vivo.
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