Efficient Gene Transfection into Mammalian Cells Mediated by Cross-linked Polyethylenimine

25 kDa branched polyethylenimine (PEI) has successfully been used for in vitro and in vivo gene delivery approaches, but it is cytotoxic. Smaller PEIs are usually non-cytotoxic but less efficient. In order to enhance the gene delivery efficiency and minimize cytotoxicity of PEI, we explored to synthesize cross-linked PEIs with degradable bonds by reacting amines of small branched 2000 Da PEI with small diacrylate (1,4-butanediol diacrylate or ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) for 2–6 hours. The efficiency of the cross-linked PEIs during in vitro delivering plasmid containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene reporter and their cytotoxicity were assessed in melanoma B16F10 cell and other cell lines. In vivo gene delivery efficiency was evaluated by direct injection delivery of the EGFP plasmid/cross-linked PEI complexes into mice and by estimating the EGFP expression in animal muscles. Compared to commercially available 25-kDa branched PEI, the cross-linked PEIs reported here could mediate more efficient expression of reporter gene than the 25-kDa PEI control, 19-fold more efficiently in B16F10 cells, 17-fold in 293T cells, 2.3-fold in 3T3 cells, and they exhibited essentially nontoxic at their optimized condition for gene delivery. Furthermore the transfection activity of polyplexs was preserved in the presence of serum proteins. The muscle transfected with the cross-linked PEI prepared here exhibited normal morphology and excellent gene expression. The cross-linked PEIs reported here were evidently more efficient than the commercial 25-kD PEI control and had less cytotoxicity in gene delivery in vitro and in vivo.