Self-Assembled Dendron-Cyclodextrin Nanotubes with a Polyethylenimine Surface and Their Gene Delivery Capability

Self-assembled dendron-cyclodextrin nanotubes (Den-CD-NTs) with selected surface functionalities can serve as templates for the formation of complexes with polymers, and the resulting nanotube-polymer complexes can be utilized as gene carriers. The negatively charged surfaces of Den-CD-NTs were covered with a positively charged polyethylenimine (PEI) layer using electrostatic interactions, and the resulting nanotube-PEI complex, having a positively charged surface exhibited intracellular uptake. Furthermore, the nanotube-PEI complex exhibited the capability for DNA complexation with reduced enzymatic degradation, and also showed higher transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity than PEI. Therefore, Den-CD-NTs, in simple complexation with a surface PEI layer, are potentially useful gene delivery vectors.