Preparation and Characterization of Thermosensitive Submicron Particles for Gene Delivery

In this study, a new thermosensitive material was proposed as a carrier for gene delivery. The thermosensitive submicron particles were synthesized by the dispersion copolymerization of N-isopropylacylamide (NIPA) with a relatively new, cationic comonomer, N-3-dimethylamino-propylmethacrylamide (DMAPM) with higher ionization ability with respect to the commonly used cationic comonomers. To achieve particle sizes smaller than 1 μm, suitable for gene delivery, the total monomer concentration in the dispersion copolymerization was kept at a sufficiently low level. The size of poly(NIPA-co-DMAPM) particles was determined as 454 nm, by AFM in dry state. The poly(NIPA-co-DMAPM) particles showed both temperature and pH sensitivity in the aqueous media. The plasmid DNA adsorption onto the thermosensitive cationic particles was investigated at different temperatures and pHs. The adsorbed amount of plasmid DNA onto the particles was significantly increased by the introduction of cationic comonomer. The equilibrium plasmid DNA adsorptions up to 13 mg/g dry particles were achieved at physiological pH. Approximately 36% w/w of adsorbed plasmid could be desorbed from the cationic nanolatex. The results of biocompatibility studies performed with mouse fibroblast cells showed the suitability of thermosensitive cationic particles for intended application.