Enhanced gene delivery using biodegradable poly(ester amine)s (PEAs) based on low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine and poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-pluronic-poly(epsilon-caprolactone).

In this paper, the poly(ester amine)s (PEAs) were successfully prepared from low-molecular-weight PEI (Mn = 2000) and Poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(propylene glycol)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCFC) copolymers using isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as cross-linker. The obtained PEAs copolymers are biodegradable and water-soluble. The PEAs/DNA complexes showed effective and stable DNA condensation with the particle size < or = 200 nm and zeta potential > or =10 mV, indicating its potential for intracellular delivery. Compared to the unmodified low-molecular-weight PEI, PEAs displayed similarly low cytotoxicity in all two cell lines (293T: Human kidney carcinoma, HUVEC: Human umbilical vein Endothelial cell) and revealed much higher transfection efficiency in 293T cell lines. Therefore these PEAs might be a novel safe and efficient polymeric gene delivery vectors.