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pH‐Sensitive Polycations for siRNA Delivery: Effect of Asymmetric Structures of Tertiary Amine Groups
Author(s) -
Yang Qinping,
Dong Yanliang,
Wang Xuanyu,
Lin Zhihao,
Yan Mingyu,
Wang Weiwei,
Dong Anjie,
Zhang Jianhua,
Huang Pingsheng,
Wang Changrong
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.202100025
Subject(s) - tertiary amine , chemistry , alkyl , methacrylate , ethylene glycol , micelle , monomer , polymer chemistry , amine gas treating , peg ratio , polyelectrolyte , organic chemistry , polymer , aqueous solution , finance , economics
Abstract pH‐sensitive polyelectrolytes provide enormous opportunity for siRNA delivery. Especially, their tertiary amine structures can not only bind genes but also act as pH‐sensitive hydrophobic structure to control genes release. However, the influence of molecular structures on siRNA delivery still remains elusive, especially for the asymmetric alkyl substituents of the tertiary amine groups. Herein, a library of N ‐methyl‐ N ‐alkyl aminoethyl methacrylate monomers (MsAM) with asymmetric alkyl substituents on the tertiary amine group is synthesized and used to prepare a series of tri‐block polycationic copolymers poly(aminoethyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly ( N ‐methyl‐ N ‐alkyl aminoethyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate) (PAMA‐PMsMA‐PEG). And the properties of these polycations and their self‐assembled micelles are characterized, including molecular structure, proton buffering capacity, pH‐sensitivity, size, and zeta potential. With the length increase of one alkyl substituent, the proton buffering capacity of both monomers and polycations is demonstrated to be narrowed down. The siRNA delivery efficiency and cytotoxicity of these micelles are also evaluated on HepG2 cells. In particular, poly(aminoethyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly( N ‐methyl‐ N ‐ethyl aminoethyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate) (PAMA‐PMEMA‐PEG) elicited the best luciferase knockdown efficiency and low cytotoxicity. Besides, PAMA‐PMEMA‐PEG/siRRM2 also induced significant anti‐tumor activity in vitro. These results indicated PAMA‐PMEMA‐PEG has potential for further use in the design of gene vehicles with the improved efficiency of siRNA delivery.