Low-molecular weight polyethylenimine (LMW PEI) shows the advantage of low-cytotoxicity, but has been inefficient in gene delivery as a consequence of the low-charge density. A number of previous studies employed the approach of crosslinking to solve this problem. In this study, a starburst LMW PEI gene vector has been developed. It has a polyamidoamine (PAMAM) core conjugated with a shell composed of LWM PEI and polyethylene glycol (PEG), that is PAMAM-PEI-PEG. Plasmid DNA (pEGFP-N1) and human cervix epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) cells were used in the study. The results showed that the starburst LMW PEI could effectively condense DNA at N/P above 5. The polyplexes had a size of about 500 nm and a nearly neutral surface because of the PEG shielding effect. This novel gene vector is able to maintain the low-cytotoxicity of LMW PEI, whereas its transfection efficiency was significantly improved. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2012.

Folate (FA)-conjugated star-shaped copolymer was prepared as a targeted carrier for anticancer drug delivery by ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide using pentaerythritol (PTL) as an initiator, followed by conjugation with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) and FA-poly(ethylene glycol) (FA-PEG). The resulting amphiphilic star-shaped copolymer was shaped into drug-loaded micelles, and the achieved micelles had an average size of around 146 nm in diameter. It was found that the sustained release time of model drug (indomethacin, IMC) from some selected micelles could reach around 40 h. In comparison with linear poly(L-lactic acid)-block-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer (PLA-MPEG), the stability of the star-shaped pentaerythritol-co-poly(L-lactic acid)-block-[methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) and FA-poly(ethylene glycol)] (PTL-PLA-MPEG/PEG-FA) micelle was significantly improved because of the lower critical micelle concentration (CMC). The specificity of PTL-PLA-MPEG/PEG-FA targeting cancer cells was demonstrated by intracellular uptake of PTL-PLA-MPEG/PEG-FA and PTL-PLA-MPEG using HeLa human cervical cancer cells. After 2 h in vitro incubation, a significant intracellular uptake for PTL-PLA-MPEG/PEG-FA over PTL-PLA-MPEG was observed by using inverted fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry. These results suggested that PTL-PLA-MPEG/PEG-FA polymeric micelle could be a potentially useful carrier for delivering selected drugs to FA-receptor positive cancer cells. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2011.

Summary: Biodegradable amphiphilic poly(ether-anhydride) gel nanoparticles (GNPs) with a hydrophobic crosslinked core and a hydrophilic PEG shell have been prepared from amphiphilic photo-crosslinkable ether-anhydride macromers via microemulsion photo-polymerization. The properties of the GNPs, such as degradability, size and drug-loading capacity, were investigated by tailoring the length of PEG chains in macromers from 400 to 4000 and by the addition of a hydrophobic photo-crosslinkable monomer: stearic monoacrylic anhydride (MSA). TEM showed that the GNPs were spherical in shape with a core-shell structure when MSA was added. The GNPs were used as the carriers to enhance the solubility of hydrophobic drugs. Indomethacin (IND) as a model drug was entrapped in the hydrophobic crosslinked core by an in situ embedding method. Results showed that IND maintained chemically intact during the formulation process, and its dissolution rate were improved compared to those of the pure IND. The GNPs prepared from PEG macromer (molecular weight: 4000) with the addition of MSA exhibited the zero-order release behavior, which is potentially useful to control the release of hydrophobic drugs.

Summary: A series of thermally responsive dendritic core-shell polymers were prepared based upon dendritic polyamidoamine (PAMAM), modified with carboxyl end-capped linear poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm-COOH) in different ratios via an esterification process to obtain PNIPAAm-g-PAMAM. The graft ratio of PNIPAAm could be adjusted by changing the feed ratio of PAMAM-OH to PNIPAAm-COOH and was verified by ¹H NMR and gel penetration chromatography (GPC). The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAAm-g-PAMAM evaluated by UV-vis spectrophotometer was about 32 °C. Indomethacin (IMC) as a model drug was loaded in the thermosensitive polymer-grafted dendrimer derivative and its release behavior was studied below and above its LCST (27 °C vs 37 °C). Results showed that the LCST of PNIPAAm-g-PAMAM was around 32 °C compared with that of the pure PNIPAAm. The release behavior of the indomethacin entrapped in the internal cavities of the PNIPAAm-g-PAMAM showed that almost 77% of the drug was cumulatively released at 27 °C after 10 hours, whereas only 20% was released at 37 °C. The release rate of IMC from the IMC/PNIPAAm-g-PAMAM complex at 37 °C is significantly slower than that at 27 °C, which indicates that the PNIPAAm chains grafted on the surface of PAMAM dendrimer could act as a channel switching on-off button through expending or contracting in response to the temperature variation and could control the drug release by varying the surrounding temperature.