Synthesis and evaluation of amphiphilic poly(tetrahydrofuran-b-ethylene oxide) copolymers for DNA delivery into skeletal muscle.

Purpose: Amphiphilic triblock copolymers such as the pluronic poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide-b-ethylene oxide) L64 (pEO(13)-pPO(30)-pEO(13)) have been shown to mediate more efficient gene transfer in muscle as compared to naked DNA. We were interested in studying the effect of a chemical change of the central block of pluronic polymers on the transfection activity.

Methods: We synthesized new amphiphilic copolymers in which the hydrophobic pPO block was replaced by poly(tetrahydrofuran) (pTHF) chains.