Title:Structure of DNA-PAMAM Dendrimer Complexes Studied Using Small-angle Scattering Techniques
Volume: 28
Issue: 36
Author(s): Bradley W. Mansel *Hsin-Lung Chen
Affiliation:
- Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu,Taiwan
Keywords:
Dendrimer, DNA, small-angle scattering, TEM, structure-function relationship, gene therapy, biotechnology.
Abstract: Gene therapy is one of the most important developments for modern medicine. As
such methods for the compaction and delivery of nucleic acids bearing therapeutic sequences
is essential. The quest for non-viral carriers of nucleic acids has produced a number of possible
candidates with dendrimer being among the most promising. Their hyper-branched structure
and well-defined size together with low cytotoxicity has found success in both ex-vivo
and in-vivo studies. The compaction of DNA with dendrimer has produced a rich array of different
structures depending on the physiochemical conditions. Mechanisms that drive the
compaction have been shown to be a number of physical interactions that reduce the large
polymeric entity from 100s of nanometers to some tens of nanometers to fit into the cell nucleus.
The mechanisms driving the compaction of DNA will be discussed in detail while the
focus will be directed to tuning the structural properties of the complexes and their structural
characterization using small-angle scattering techniques.
