Synthesis, physicochemical properties, and preliminary biological characterizations of a novel amphoteric agmatine-based poly(amidoamine) with RGD-like repeating units.

A linear, amphoteric poly(amidoamine) nicknamed AGMA1, based on 4-aminobutylguanidine, or agmatine, was successfully prepared by Michael-type polyaddition of monoprotonated agmatine and 2,2-bis(acrylamido)acetic acid (BAC). Copolymers between AGMA1 and the biocompatible poly(amidoamine) ISA23 (deriving from the polyaddition of 2-methylpiperazine with BAC) were also prepared. Acid-base titrations gave for AGMA1 three acid dissociation constants, with pKa values of 2.25, 7.45, and >or=12.1, corresponding to a strong acid, a medium-weak base, and a strong base, respectively. The charge distribution profiles show that this polymer is prevailingly cationic at all physiological pH values, the positive net average charge per unit varying from about 0.5 at pH 7.4 to about 1.0 at pH 5, with an isoelectric point at pH approximately 10. Zeta-potential measurements confirmed this. Despite that, AGMA1 is nontoxic and nonhemolytic in vitro within all pH ranges tested (4-7.5). This is in contrast with the previously observed behavior of amphoteric PAAs, for instance ISA23, that are weakly hemolytic at pH 7.4 but highly hemolytic at pH 5/5.5. The lack of hemolytic activity of AGMA1 even at acidic pH values seems typical of the agmatine-BAC sequences and may be ascribed to their RGD-like structure. In fact, AGMA1-ISA23 copolymers behave in a way increasingly similar to that of ISA23; that is, they become hemolytic at low pH values as their ISA23 content increases.