REDUCTION-RESPONSIVE CATIONIC BIODEGRADABLE MICELLES BASED ON PDMAEMA-SS-PCL-SS-PDMAEMA TRIBLOCK COPOLYMERS FOR GENE DELIVERY

摘要

Reduction-responsive cationic biodegradable micelles based on PDMAEMA-SS-PCL-SS-PDMAEMA triblock copolymers were prepared and investigated for non-viral gene transfer. The self-assembled cationic micelles could effectively condense DNA into small-sized polyplexes (< 120 nm), which had good colloidal stability in 150 mM NaCl. In the presence of 10 mM DTT (mimicking intracellular environment), however, DNA was released rapidly. Notably, reduction-responsive micelles showed much lower cytotoxicity as compared to the corresponding reduction-insensitive micelles.