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Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Lentiviral Mediated Delivery of shRNAs to hESCs and NPCs Using Low-cost Cationic Polymer Polyethylenimine (PEI)
Published on: May 24, 2022
Convenient preparation of biodegradable PEI-containing polymers as non-viral vectors for gene transfection
Fu-Wei Huang1, Jun Feng, Jun Nie
1Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education and Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
Abstract:
Poly(L-succinimide)-graft-polyethylenimines (PSPs) were prepared as non-viral vectors for gene transfection. Branched polyethylenimine (Mw= 800, PEI800) was grafted to poly(L-succinimide) (PSI) in a one-step reaction with no catalyst. Gel retardation assay showed that the mobility of PSP/pDNA complexes was completely retarded at the low N/P ratio of 0.42. In vitro transfection experiments showed that, at N/P ratio of 0.84, PSPs can reach the highest transfection level with ten-fold enhancement in 293T cells and five-fold enhancement in HeLa cells as compared with PEI25k (Mw= 25,000). Fluorescent confocal microscopy showed that pGL-3 plasmids condensed by PSPs could be effectively transported into the nuclei of HeLa cells. Significantly reduced cytotoxicity of polymers was observed towards 293T and HeLa cells, with the 50% inhibition concentration of PSPs being almost four times higher than that of PEI25k.
