Divalent Folate Modification on PEG: An Effective Strategy for Improving the Cellular Uptake and Targetability of PEGylated Polyamidoamine-Polyethylenimine Copolymer

The stability and targeting ability of nanocarrier gene delivery systems are necessary conditions to ensure the good therapeutic effect and low nonspecific toxicity of cancer treatment. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has been widely applied for improving stability and as a spacer for linking ligands and nanocarriers to improve targetability. However, the cellular uptake and endosomal escape capacity of nanocarriers has been seriously harmed due to the introduction of PEG. In the present study, we synthesized a new gene delivery vector by coupling divalent folate-PEG (PEG(3.4k)-FA(2)) onto polyamidoamine-polyethylenimine (PME) copolymer (PME-(PEG(3.4k)-(FA2))(1.72)). Both PEG and monovalent folate-PEG (PEG(3.4k)-FA(1)) modified PME were prepared as control polymers, which were named as PME-(PEG(3.5k))(1.69) and PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(1))(1.66), respectively. PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72) exhibited strong DNA condensation capacity like parent polymer PME which was not significantly influenced by PEG. PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72)/DNA complexes at N/P = 10 had a diameter similar to 143 nm and zeta potential similar to 13 mV and showed the lowest cytotoxicity and hemolysis and the highest transfection efficiency among all tested polymers. In folate receptor positive (FR-positive) cells, the cellular uptake and transfection efficiency were increased with the increase in the number of folates coupled on PEG; the order was PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72) > PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(1))(1.66) > PME-(PEG(3.5k))(1.69). Folate competition assays showed that PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72) complexes had stronger targeting ability than PME-(PEG(3.5k))(1.69) and PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(1))(1.66) complexes due to their higher folate density per PEG molecule. Cellular uptake mechanism study showed that the folate density on PEG could change the endocytosis pathway of PME-(PEG(3.5k))(1.69) from clathrin-mediated endocytosis to caveolae-mediated endocytosis, leading to less lysosomal degradation. Distribution and uptake in 3D multicellular spheroid assays showed that divalent folate could offer PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72) complexes stronger penetrating ability and higher cellular uptake. With these advantages, PME-(PEG(3.4k)-FA(2))(1.72) may be a promising nonviral vector candidate for efficient gene delivery. This study also indicates that divalent folate modification on PEG can serve as an efficient strategy to improve the cellular uptake and targeting ability of PEGylated cationic polymers for gene delivery.