PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment
Gene therapy is used to correct or compensate for diseases caused by gene defects and abnormalities. Improving the transfection efficiency and reducing the toxicity of gene carriers are the keys to gene therapy. Similar to a typical cationic gene carrier—polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa)—the polyamidoa...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Nanomaterials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/7/1640 |
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| author | Yanzhen Sun Xiaoli Ma Xiaodong Jing Hao Hu |
| author_facet | Yanzhen Sun Xiaoli Ma Xiaodong Jing Hao Hu |
| author_sort | Yanzhen Sun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gene therapy is used to correct or compensate for diseases caused by gene defects and abnormalities. Improving the transfection efficiency and reducing the toxicity of gene carriers are the keys to gene therapy. Similar to a typical cationic gene carrier—polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa)—the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer also has a large number of amino groups. These amino groups can be complexed with nucleic acids after protonation under physiological conditions. However, the concentrated positive charge can cause undesirable cytotoxicity. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have good biocompatibility and unique needle-like morphology, and have been proven to be efficiently taken up by cells. In this article, three-dimensional spherical PMAMA dendrimers are conjugated onto the surface of CNCs to obtain a kind of needle-like cationic carrier (CNC-PAMAM). PAMAM dendrimers act as anchors to bind the plasmid DNAs (pDNA) to the surface of the CNC. The prepared CNC-based carrier showed high transfection efficiency and low toxicity. The CNC-PAMAM can effectively deliver the suicide gene to the tumor site, enabling the suicide gene/prodrug system (cytosine deaminase/5-fluorocytosine (CD/5-FC)) to play an effective anti-tumor role in vivo. This research demonstrates that the functionalization of CNCs with PAMAM dendrimers is an effective method for developing novel gene delivery systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:10:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d4652e7730a24868943cc10068dbf688 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:10:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-d4652e7730a24868943cc10068dbf6882023-11-22T01:17:23ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-06-01117164010.3390/nano11071640PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer TreatmentYanzhen Sun0Xiaoli Ma1Xiaodong Jing2Hao Hu3Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaQingdao Institute of Measurement Technology, Qingdao 266000, ChinaInstitute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaInstitute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaGene therapy is used to correct or compensate for diseases caused by gene defects and abnormalities. Improving the transfection efficiency and reducing the toxicity of gene carriers are the keys to gene therapy. Similar to a typical cationic gene carrier—polyethylenimine (PEI, 25 kDa)—the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer also has a large number of amino groups. These amino groups can be complexed with nucleic acids after protonation under physiological conditions. However, the concentrated positive charge can cause undesirable cytotoxicity. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have good biocompatibility and unique needle-like morphology, and have been proven to be efficiently taken up by cells. In this article, three-dimensional spherical PMAMA dendrimers are conjugated onto the surface of CNCs to obtain a kind of needle-like cationic carrier (CNC-PAMAM). PAMAM dendrimers act as anchors to bind the plasmid DNAs (pDNA) to the surface of the CNC. The prepared CNC-based carrier showed high transfection efficiency and low toxicity. The CNC-PAMAM can effectively deliver the suicide gene to the tumor site, enabling the suicide gene/prodrug system (cytosine deaminase/5-fluorocytosine (CD/5-FC)) to play an effective anti-tumor role in vivo. This research demonstrates that the functionalization of CNCs with PAMAM dendrimers is an effective method for developing novel gene delivery systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/7/1640cellulose nanocrystalsPAMAM dendrimercationic gene carriergene transfectiongene therapy |
| spellingShingle | Yanzhen Sun Xiaoli Ma Xiaodong Jing Hao Hu PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment Nanomaterials cellulose nanocrystals PAMAM dendrimer cationic gene carrier gene transfection gene therapy |
| title | PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment |
| title_full | PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment |
| title_fullStr | PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment |
| title_short | PAMAM-Functionalized Cellulose Nanocrystals with Needle-Like Morphology for Effective Cancer Treatment |
| title_sort | pamam functionalized cellulose nanocrystals with needle like morphology for effective cancer treatment |
| topic | cellulose nanocrystals PAMAM dendrimer cationic gene carrier gene transfection gene therapy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/7/1640 |
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