title: Perylene-cored star-shaped polycations for fluorescent gene vectors and bioimaging.
abstract: Two star polycations, poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate) (PAEMA, P1) and poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA, P2), have been synthesized with perylene diimide (PDI) as the central fluorophore. (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR are used to confirm the successful synthesis of a macromolecular initiator. Using ATRP strategy, P1 and P2 are obtained with narrow molecular weight distribution. The star polymers have good fluorescence properties in aqueous solution, which provides fluorescent tracing and imaging during gene delivery. Both P1 and P2 can efficiently condense DNA into stable nanoparticles. Transfection studies demonstrate that P1 and P2 deliver DNA into live cells with higher efficiency and lower cytotoxicity than polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa). P2 shows higher capacity for gene delivery than P1 due to its better buffering and faster rate of cellular internalization.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Key Laboratory of Carbon Fiber and Functional Polymers, Ministry of Education, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , 100029 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shusen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Bicheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Wantai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Meizhen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004330:Drosophila; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D061848:Optical Imaging; D010569:Perylene / Q000737:chemistry*; D011073:Polyamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D000071228:Polyelectrolytes; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010569:Perylene; D011073:Polyamines; D000071228:Polyelectrolytes; D011108:Polymers
keywords: bioimaging; fluorescence; gene vector; star polymer