Polycationic supramolecular hydrogel for sustained gene delivery

摘要

Novel cationic branched copolymers with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly[(R,S)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (MPEG-PHB) blocks non-covalently attached to parent β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) modified poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) were synthesized by combining anionic ring-opening polymerization, click chemistry and host-guest inclusion complexation. The polycation was used to condense plasmid DNA (pDNA) into polyplexes and subsequently interact with a-cyclodextrin (α-CD) in an aqueous meduim to form supramolecular hydrogel. The hydrogel was found to release polyplexes in a sustained way. Moreover, the released polyplexes exhibited good transfection efficiency in cancer celle line, which indicates its potential as sustained non-viral gene delivery vectors.