Dendrimer mediated gene transfection

A PAMAM-PEG-PAMAM dendritic triblock copolymer has also been shown to be an efficient gene delivery agent [40 ]. Plasmid DNA was found to assemble with the copolymer forming compact nanosized particles with a narrow size distribution. The resulting complex exhibited high solubility when compared to PAMAM dendrimers, low-cytotoxidty 

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The structure of cationic lipids and polymers is readily amenable to chemical modification [35, 36] allowing the exploration of a virtually unlimited number of combinations and strategies at the mercy of chemists creative abilities. Various reviews have been focused on cationic lipids, dendrimers and polymers in terms of their chemical structures and their transfection properties [36—41], in an attempt to shed some light on the chemical requirements necessary to mediate gene delivery. The focus of this chapter will be to explore these carriers from a synthetic perspective, with a description of the chemical strategies used for the preparation via synthetic organic chemistry (excluding polymer synthesis) of cationic lipids and dendrimers. 

Szoka and Haensler investigated the application of PAMAM dendrimers as non-viral vectors for in vitro gene transfer. Their study demonstrated that complexes consisting of G5 PAMAM dendrimers and DNA expression plasmids enhanced transfection efficiency over naked plasmid DNA in many cells, particularly cell lines derived from monkey and human neoplasms. PAMAM cascade polymers mediate efficient transfection of cells in culture. The efficiency of intact dendrimers as synthetic vectors for the delivery of genetic material into cells has also been demonstrated. 

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