A reactive oxygen species-responsive dendrimer with low cytotoxicity for efficient and targeted gene delivery

Nonviral vectors have been attracting more attention for several advantages in gene delivery and the development of nonviral gene carriers with high delivery efficiency and low cytotoxicity has long been a key project. Starburst polyamidoamine dendrimers are a class of synthetic polymers with unique structural and physical characteristics. However, when they are used as gene carrier, the gene transfection efficiency is not satisfactory. Herein, a novel thioketal-core polyamidoamine dendrimer (i.e., ROS-PAMAM) was synthesized and characterized. Compared to ethylenediamine-core dendrimers or widely used cationic polymers of polyetherimide, ROS-PAMAM showed lower cytotoxicity. Moreover, ROS-PAMAM demonstrated reactive oxygen species responsive characteristics, which can facilitate the release of siRNA in the tumor microenvironment. In vitro gene transfection experiments based on A549 cells confirmed that siRNA/ROS-PAMAM exhibits high gene transfection efficiency. It is concluded that ROS-PAMAM shows great potential as a generalizable vehicle for gene therapy applications.