Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry
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Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry |
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| 143 | Gössl, I.; Shu, L.; Schlüter, A. D.; Rabe, J. P. |
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| Abstract | The structure of non-viral gene delivery systems plays an important role for the efficiency of transfection. We used positively charged dendronized polymers with the protonated amine groups at the periphery to form complexes with DNA. The dendronized polymers are cylindrically shaped and different dendron generations provide different radii and charge densities. Complexes of DNA and dendronized polymers were adsorbed on polymer coated mica substrates. We examined their structure via scanning force microscopy and our results indicate that DNA wraps around the dendronized polymers resulting in a DNA pitch of 2.7 nm using generation two, and 2.3 nm using generation four dendronized polymers. The complexes were charged, as predicted by the theory of spontaneous overcharging. These DNA/dendronized polymer complexes might serve as a novel non-viral gene delivery system with a well defined structure. |