Polyamidoamine dendrimer and oleic acid-functionalized graphene as biocompatible and efficient gene delivery vectors

Functionalized graphene has good potential in biomedical applications. To address a better and multiplex design of graphene-based gene vectors, the graphene-oleate-polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer hybrids were synthesized by the oleic acid adsorption and covalent linkage of PAMAM dendrimers. The micromorphology, electrical charge property, and amount of free amine groups of the graphene-oleate-PAMAM hybrids were characterized, and the peripheral functional groups were identified. The PAMAM dendrimers could be tethered onto graphene surface in high density. The graphene-oleate-PAMAM hybrids exhibit relatively good dispersity and stability in aqueous solutions. To evaluate the potential application of the hybrids in gene delivery vectors, cytotoxicity to HeLa and MG-63 cells and gene (plasmid DNA of enhanced green fluorescent protein) transfection capacity of the hybrids were investigated in detail. The graphene-oleate-PAMAM hybrids show mammalian cell type- and dose-dependent in vitro cytotoxicity. Under the optimal condition, the hybrids possess good biocompatibility and gene transfection capacity. The surface modification of graphene with oleic acid and PAMAM improves the gene transfection efficiency 13 times in contrast to the ultrasonicated graphene. Moreover, the hybrids show better transfection efficiency than the graphene oxide-PAMAM without the oleic acid modification.