Polycationic water soluble copolymer and method for transferring polyanionic macromolecules across biological barriers
First Claim
1. A carrier molecule for transporting a polyanionic macromolecule across a membrane of a cell consisting of:
- a single polyethylene glycol (PEG) backbone polymer; and
about 4 to about 100 polyethylenimine (PEI) polymers covalently linked to the PEG backbone polymer by linkers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present provides a carrier molecule for transporting a polyanioic macromolecule such as a nucleic acid across a biological barrier of a cell. The carrier has a biocompatible backbone polymer with two or more polycationic polymer fragments covalently linked. In one embodiment, the backbone polymer is polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the polycationic polymer is polyethylenimine (PEI). The copolymer carrier molecule can be complexed with a polyanionic macromolecule such as a nucleic acid (NA). The NA/copolymer complex is stable in biological conditions by forming a special coreshell-like micelle structure. The nucleic acid can be rapidly released from the complex when biodegradation linker are used to bind the polycationic polymer fragments to the polymer backbone. The carriers and complexes of the invention can be used tin methods of delivering the polycainonic macromolecules to cells both in vitro and in vivo.
73 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A carrier molecule for transporting a polyanionic macromolecule across a membrane of a cell consisting of:
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a single polyethylene glycol (PEG) backbone polymer; and about 4 to about 100 polyethylenimine (PEI) polymers covalently linked to the PEG backbone polymer by linkers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A complex for transporting a polyanionic macromolecule across a membrane of a cell comprising:
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a carrier molecule for delivering the polyanionic macromolecule to the cell, the carrier molecule consisting of a single poly (N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (HPMA) backbone polymer and two or more PEI polymers covalently linked to the poly (N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (HPMA) backbone polymer by linkers; and a nucleic acid complexed with the carrier molecule. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of transporting a polyanionic macromolecule across a membrane of a cell comprising:
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(a) complexing the polyanionic macromolecule to a carrier molecule to create a complex, the carrier molecule consisting of a single biocompatible hydrophilic backbone polymer and two or more polycationic polymers covalently linked to the biocompatible hydrophilic backbone polymer by a biodegradable peptide linkers which are from about 2 to about 100 atoms in length, wherein the biocompatible hydrophilic backbone polymer is selected from the group consisting of PEG and HPMA; and (b) contacting the cell with the complex. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A carrier for transporting a polyanionic macromolecule across a membrane of a cell comprising:
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a PEG biocompatible hydrophilic backbone polymer; and two or more PEI polycationic polymers covalently linked to the PEG biocompatible hydrophilic backbone polymer by peptide or propionic acid linkers; wherein the PEI polycationic polymers have a molecular weight of from about 400 to about 2,000 daltons. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification