Effect of peptide content on the regulation of transgene expression by protein kinase Cα-responsive linear polyethylenimine-peptide conjugates

•LPEI-based nanocarriers that respond to cancer-specific PKCα were synthesized.•Nanocarriers formed polyplexes with pDNA through electrostatic interaction.•Physicochemical characteristics of polyplexes depended on pendant peptide contents.•Pendant peptide contents affected transgene activation in response to PKCα.

We examined a series of linear polyethylenimine (LPEI)-based nanocarriers that activate transgene expression in response to cancer-specific protein kinase Cα (PKCα). Eight types of LPEI-peptide conjugate differing in peptide content and number were synthesized using click chemistry. The conjugates could form polyplexes with pDNA through electrostatic interaction, but the degree of pDNA condensation, sizes, and surface charges of the resulting polyplexes depended on the pendant-peptide content and number. None of the polyplexes showed significant cytotoxicity toward human hepatoma cells (HepG2). Furthermore, pendant peptide content and number markedly affected transgene activation in response to PKCα. To achieve an all-or-none response to PKCα, we determined the optimum peptide content and number in LPEI-peptide conjugates as ≈6 mol% and ≈40 peptides/conjugate.

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