Cationic fluorine-containing amphiphilic graft copolymers as DNA carriers.

A series of cationic fluorine-containing amphiphilic graft copolymers P(HFMA-St-MOTAC)-g-PEG comprising poly(hexafluorobutyl methacrylate) (PHFMA) poly(methacryl oxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride) (PMOTAC) polystyrene (PSt) backbones and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains are synthesized as a type of non-viral gene vector. The copolymers self-assemble into spherical micelles in the aqueous media and turbidity and cytotoxicity measurements show that those micelles have excellent dispersive stability and low cytotoxicity. The interactions between the copolymers and calf-thymus DNA are studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and viscosity.