Bioreducible Zinc (II)-Coordinative Polyethylenimine with Low Molecular Weight for Robust Gene Delivery of Primary and Stem Cells

Low molecular weight (LMW) cationic polymers show safety profile and biocompatibility, but are hindered of limited efficacy in gene delivery. This protocol describes a zinc(II) coordinative strategy to transform common LMW highly efficient safe vehicles. exhibit lower compared their high counterparts, largely attributed weaker nucleic acid binding. From this point view, zinc dipicolylamine (Zn-DPA) analogs showing phosphate binding affinity used functionalize obtain higher DNA encapsulation. In addition, for the purpose release, bioreducible disulfide bond is introduced between Zn-DPA analogues, which can be cleaved by abundant glutathione cytoplasm. The Zn coordination dramatically enhances transfection across diverse cell types, including primary stem cells.