Cationic poly(ester amide) dendrimers: alluring materials for biomedical applications†
Alexandre Lancelot,Pilar Romero,José L. Serrano,Teresa Sierra
Journal of Materials Chemistry B Pub Date : 05/15/2018 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/C8TB00639C
Abstract

Novel cationic poly(ester amide) dendrimers have been synthesized by copper(I) azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) of a tripropargylamine core and azide-terminated dendrons, in turn prepared by iterative amide coupling of the new monomer 2,2′-bis(glycyloxymethyl)propionic acid (bis-GMPA). The alternation of ester and amide groups provided a dendritic scaffold that was totally biocompatible and degradable in aqueous media at physiological and acidic pH. The tripodal dendrimers naturally formed rounded aggregates with a drug that exhibited low water solubility, camptothecin, thus improving its cell viability and anti-Hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) activity. The presence of numerous peripheral cationic groups enabled these dendrimers to form dendriplexes with both pDNA and siRNA and they showed effective in vitro siRNA transfection in tumoral and non-tumoral cell lines.

Graphical abstract: Cationic poly(ester amide) dendrimers: alluring materials for biomedical applications