Polycationic block copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) for cell transfection.
A facile, one-step synthesis of cationic block copolymers of poly(2-N-(dimethylaminoethyl) methacrylate) (pDMAEMA) and copolymers of poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) has been developed. The PEO-PPO-PEO-pDMAEMA (L92-pDMAEMA) and PEO-pDMAEMA copolymers were obtained via free radical polymerization of DMAEMA initiated by polyether radicals generated by cerium(IV). Over 95% of the copolymer fraction was of molecular mass ranging from 6.9 to 7.1 kDa in size, indicating the prevalence of the polyether-monoradical initiation mechanism. The L92-pDMAEMA copolymers possess parent surfactant-like surface activity. In contrast, the PEO-pDMAEMA copolymers lack significant surface activity. Both copolymers can complex with DNA. Hydrodynamic radii of the complexes of the L92-pDMAEMA and PEO-pDMAEMA with plasmid DNA ranged in size from 60 to 400 nm, depending on the copolymer/DNA ratio. Addition of Pluronic P123 to the L92-pDMAEMA complexes with DNA masked charges and decreased the tendency of the complex to aggregate, even at stoichiometric polycation/DNA ratios. The transfection efficiency of the L92-pDMAEMA copolymer was by far greater than that of the PEO-pDMAEMA copolymer. An extra added Pluronic P123 further increased the transfecton efficacy of L92-pDMAEMA, but did not affect that of PEO-pDMAEMA.
Bromberg
Lev
L
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Deshmukh
Smeet
S
Temchenko
Marina
M
Iourtchenko
Ludmila
L
Alakhov
Valery
V
Alvarez-Lorenzo
Carmen
C
Barreiro-Iglesias
Rafael
R
Concheiro
Angel
A
Hatton
T Alan
TA
D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry; D006224:Cricetinae; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005027:Ethylene Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014162:Transfection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
D002412:Cations; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D011108:Polymers; D005027:Ethylene Oxide; C009068:propylene oxide