Glucosylated Polypropylenimine Dendrimer as a Novel Gene Carrier

Polypropylenimine (PPI) dendrimers have been used by many researchers as gene delivery carriers due to their high functionality. Glucose as a kind of carbohydrate is biocompatible and hydrophilic. In this study, we synthesized glucosylated PPI (G-PPI) dendrimers to reduce cytotoxicity. Glucose substitution of G-PPI dendrimers was determined by the sulfuric acid micromethod. The G-PPI dendrimer was complexed with plasmid DNA in various N/P ratios, and the complex was characterized. G-PPI dendrimers showed good DNA binding ability and high protection of DNA from nuclease attack. The G-PPI dendrimer had low cytotoxicity compared to PPI dendrimer by cytotoxicity assay. Also, transfection efficiency was influenced by glucosylation degree and the transfection efficiency for the G-PPI-5 was slightly higher than that of PPI dendrimer in HeLa cell line.