Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
10558 Biomaterials 2007 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

Polyethylenimines (PEI) are often inefficient in gene knockdown experiments with small interfering RNA (siRNA), presumably due to the strong complexing properties. A more efficient and potentially degradable oligoethylenimine-based carrier was synthesized by the condensation of 800 molecular weight PEI oligomers with hexanedioldiacrylate. Reaction conditions were chosen such that Michael reaction occurs followed by complete N-acylation of all residual ester bonds resulting in beta-aminopropionamide linkage sites and an average molecular weight of 30,000. Based on NMR analysis, these conditions produced 38% tertiary amides and 62% secondary amides, with about 2% residual carboxylate, presumably from hydrolysis. The ionizable equivalent weight of the carrier increased to 51, compared to a value of 43 for standard PEI. Sensible in vitro knockdown of the luciferase gene in stably transfected HUH7 cells, up to 80% in comparison to non-specific siRNA, demonstrated its suitability for siRNA delivery.

Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemical Engineering Bioengineering
Authors
, , , , , , , ,