Biodegradable and Nontoxic
Nanogels as Nonviral Gene
Delivery Systems
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Abstract
The development of polymeric systems with tailored properties
as
nonviral gene carriers continues to be a challenging and exciting
field of research. We report here the synthesis and characterization
of biodegradable, temperature- and pH-sensitive carbohydrate-based
cationic nanogels as effective gene delivery carriers to Hep G2 cells.
The temperature-sensitive property of the nanogels allows their facile
complexation of DNA, while the pH-sensitive property allows the degradation
of nanogels followed by the release of plasmid in the endosome. The
nanogels are synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation
chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) technique and are evaluated for
their DNA condensation efficacy. The gene delivery efficacies of these
nanogels are subsequently studied and it is found that these cationic
glyconanogels can serve as potent gene delivery vectors in hepatocytes.
It is found that the gene delivery efficacies of this system are similar
to that of branched poly(ethyleneimine), which is used as a positive
control. Moreover, these nanogels show desirable properties for systemic
applications including low toxicity and degradation in acidic environment