Poly(amidoamine) dendrimer-grafted-dexamethasone as a nucleus targeting polymeric gene carrier

Abstract

In this study, we report a steroid-conjugated polymer version, PAMAM-dexamethasoen (PAM-Dexa) to introduce a nuclea targeting ligand to increase the transfection efficiency from the nucleus targeting functionality. We synthesized PAM-dexa and characterized tis phyicochemical properties, cytotoxicity, and in vitro transfection efficiency. As control polymeric gene carriers, polyethyelimine (PEI) and polyamidoamine (PAMAM) denderimer were also used in the transfection experiments. Thecytotoxicity and transfection efficiencies for 293 and Neuro 2A cells were measured by comparison with PEI and PAMAM. It was observed that dexamethasone conjugation enhanced the transfection efficiency of PAMAM. Therefore, the technique with dexamethasone may be useful for the gene delivery using polymeric gene carriers and the development of efficient polymeric vectors.