Modified polyamidoamine based nanoparticles for tumor cell gene delivery

Abstract

Polyamidoamine is a cationic dendrimer with the ability to condense plasmid DNA into nanometric particles suitable for gene transfer applications. Toxicity is one of the obstacles in wide range usage of this dendrimer in cancer gene therapy. The toxicity is mainly associated with high density of positive charge on its surface which leads to cell membrane disruption. Therefore, modification of the dendrimer backbone to reduce the positive charge might be useful in order to decrease the dendrimer cytotoxicity. To achieve this goal, a series of hydrophobic derivatives of PAMAM was prepared by reacting with ethyl, butyl, hexyl and lauryl acrylates. By these modifications the surface positive charge was modulated and the hydrophobic balance of the dendrimer was improved.