Cell Penetrating Polymers Containing Guanidinium Trigger Apoptosis in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells unless Conjugated to a Targeting N-Acetyl-Galactosamine Block.

A series of 3-guanidinopropyl methacrylamide (GPMA)-based polymeric gene delivery vehicles were developed via aqueous reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The polymers have been evaluated for their cellular internalization ability, transfection efficiency, and cytotoxicity. Two homopolymers: P(GPMA), P(GPMA), were synthesized to study the effect of guanidium polymer length on delivery efficiency and toxicity.

N-Acetylgalactosamine Block-co-Polycations Form Stable Polyplexes with Plasmids and Promote Liver-Targeted Delivery.

The liver is an ideal target for nucleic acid therapeutic applications (i.e., siRNA, gene therapy, and genome editing) due to its ability to secrete proteins into the blood.