Branched Disulfide-Based Polyamidoamines Capable of Mediating High Gene Transfection

Dual-responsive nanoparticles based on oxidized pullulan and a disulfide-containing poly(β-amino) ester for efficient delivery of genes and chemotherapeutic agents targeting hepatoma

“…The cytotoxicity of ssPBAE was assessed by CCK8 assay by comparison with PBAE, which was synthesized by the Michael-addition reaction of 5-amino-1-pentanol and 1,4-butanediol diacrylate. 15 As shown in Fig. S3, † ssPBAE exhibited an obviously lower cytotoxicity than PBAE at a concentration above 100 μg mL −1 .…”

“…Some investigations have confirmed that the cleavable disulfide bonds will contribute to the adequate degradation of cationic polymers, thus leading to the significantly decreased cytotoxicity of cationic polymers and efficient intracellular release of the loaded genes. [15][16][17] Second, ssPBAE was modified with diethylenetriamine and then covalently grafted onto oxidized pullulan (oxPL) containing abundant aldehyde groups resulting from the periodate oxidation of pullulan. Considering that pullulan has good hydrophilic properties and is a natural ligand for the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) over-expressed by hepatoma cells, 18 chemical modification of ssPBAE with oxPL would be favorable for enhancing the stability of ssPBAE in blood and improve its hepatoma-targeted delivery.…”