Bifunctionally engineered polyethylenimines as efficient DNA carriers and antibacterials against resistant pathogens

Area of Science:

• Bioconjugation Chemistry
• Gene Therapy
• Antimicrobial Research

Background:

• Developing safe and effective gene delivery vectors is crucial for gene therapy.
• Combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria requires novel therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel bifunctional conjugates of polyethylenimine and streptomycin.
• To evaluate the gene delivery efficiency and antibacterial activity of these conjugates.

Main Methods:

• Spectroscopic characterization of synthesized polyethylenimine-streptomycin conjugates.
• Gel electrophoresis to assess cationic charge density and pDNA binding.
• In vitro mammalian cell transfection studies.
• Antibacterial assays against pathogenic bacterial strains.

Main Results:

• Conjugates demonstrated efficient gene transfection in mammalian cells, with low-molecular-weight variants showing a 9-fold enhancement over native polyethylenimine.
• High cell viability was observed with the conjugate formulations.
• Conjugates exhibited superior antibacterial activity compared to native streptomycin, particularly against resistant strains.

Conclusions:

• The developed polyethylenimine-streptomycin bifunctional conjugates show significant promise as dual-action agents for gene delivery and combating bacterial infections.
• These findings support the potential of these conjugates for future biomedical applications requiring both gene therapy and antimicrobial properties.