POLY 108 |
| Cationic polymers are showing their worth as transfection reagents, but their pathway from administration to excretion needs to be better understood to progress this field. A family of Ln-chelating cationic polymers have been designed, synthesized, and used to probe nucleic acid delivery. These polymers bind DNA effectively and form DNA-polymer nanoparticles (polyplexes) that have been characterized by TEM, DLS, and zeta potential measurements. Furthermore, we demonstrate the strong cellular uptake and gene delivery of these polyplexes to a human cell line. These polymers have proven to be useful in deciphering the intracellular transit of cationic gene delivery polymers in vitro using fluorescence microscopy. Additionally, our polyplexes have shown potential as MRI contrast agents that are capable of entering cells with high efficiency and, therefore, may be incredibly valuable tools for future in vivo and clinical gene delivery investigations. These studies and current results will be presented. |
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Excellence in Graduate Polymer Science Research
6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster
Division of Polymer Chemistry |