We have developed several carbohydrate-containing macromolecules that have shown outstanding affinity to encapsulate polynucleotides and drugs into colloidal nanostructures that facilitate highly efficient intracellular delivery.  We have utilized both step growth and RAFT polymerization techniques to yield a comprehensive series of copolymers and block copolymers that contain various mono-, di-, and oligosaccharide moieties copolymerized with a variety of monomer chemistries for the delivery of nucleic acids and drugs. A number of these polymer systems have revealed high delivery efficacy, in particular for siRNA-mediated gene knockdown in glioblastoma cells.  Confocal microscopy imaging techniques have been heavily utilized to examine the intracellular trafficking mechanisms of our nanosystems.  Three-dimensional data processing techniques to surface render confocal images have also been developed, allowing us to visualize the spatio-temporal distribution of the nanosystems within the cellular environment.

Glycopolyamide block copolymers promote salt and serum stable nanostructure formation

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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