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Peptide dendrimers have a broad application in biomedical science due to their biocompatibility, diversity, and multifunctionality, but the precision synthesis of high-molecule weight peptide dendrimers remains challenging. We here report the facile and liquid-phase synthesis of molecular level precision and amino-acid built-in polylysine (PLL) dendrimers with molecular weights as high as ∼60 kDa. Three types of polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS)-cored PLL dendrimers with phenylalanine, tyrosine, or histidine as building blocks were synthesized. The precise structures of the dendrimers were confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS, GPC, and 1 H NMR spectroscopy. The interior functionalized peptide dendrimers improved the encapsulation capability of SN38 and sustained the release profiles. Enhanced molecular interactions between the peptide dendrimers and drugs were explored by both NMR experiments and computer simulations. The peptide dendrimer/SN38 formulations showed potent antitumor activity against multiple cancer cell lines. We believe that this strategy can be applied to the synthesis of tailor-made functional peptide dendrimers for drug-specific delivery and other diverse biomedical applications.

A new dendrimer probe was designed for bone imaging. Bidentate iminodiacetate groups were introduced to the probe to obtain strong bind to bones. The assembled dendrimeric probe, with four iminodiacetate moieties and a fluorescent tag, displayed good selectivity to hydroxyapatite, calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate salts. In mice, the probe offered vivid skeletal details after intravenous delivery., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Peptide-decorated dendrimers (PDDs) are a class of spherical, regular, branched polymers that are modified by peptides covalently attached to their surface. PDDs have been used as protein mimetics, novel biomaterials, and in a wide range of biomedical applications. Since their design and development in the late eighties, poly-l-lysine has been a preferred core structure for PDDs. However, numerous recent innovations in polymer synthesis and ligation chemistry have re-energized the field and led to the emergence of well-defined peptide dendrimers with more diverse core structures and functions. This Minireview highlights the development of PDDs driven by significantly improved ligation chemistry incorporating structurally well-defined peptides and the emerging use of PDDs in imaging and drug development., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Overhauser-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (OMRI), which is a double resonance technique, creates images of free radical distribution in animals by enhancing the water proton signal intensity by the overhauser effect. In this study, we constructed a contrast agent by combining PROXYL groups that have nitroxyl radicals with PEG-modified dendritic poly(l-lysine) that accumulates in the tumor by enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Addition of the PROXYL groups at the PEG chains' termini on KG6 was advantageous in OMRI, because the ESR signal of the nitroxyl radical was maintained without decay caused by mobility restriction, even if the PROXYL groups were attached at 25 mol% on one molecule. After intramuscular injection of the molecule modified at 25 mol%, that is, PR25-PEG-KG6, a significant OMRI signal was observed at the injected site. However, no signal was detected in the tumor after intravenous injection of PR25-PEG-KG6 to a tumor-bearing mouse, although PR25-PEG-KG6 itself accumulated in the tumor. The reason was that the nitroxyl radicals were immediately reduced in the blood after the injection, suggesting that use of stable nitroxyl radicals will enable detection of tumors by OMRI after intravenous injection.

To deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumors, a hydrophobic cavity was prepared in the dendritic molecule, dendritic poly(L-lysine) of sixth generation (KG6), which was used as a drug carrier. The dendritic molecule was modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG)-linked hydrophobic penta-phenylalanine or penta-alanine. The hydrophobic cavity was formed between the KG6 and PEG chains. The penta-phenylalanine peptide was better in encapsulating doxorubicin (DOX) in the cavity compared with penta-alanine. The loaded DOX was slowly released from the cavity, and it depended on pH. After intravenous injection, the DOX-loaded dendrimers accumulated in the tumor by the enhanced permeability and retention effect, and showed significant suppression of tumor growth without loss of body weight. These results indicate that hydrophobic oligopeptides can be used for forming a hydrophobic cavity in a dendritic molecule for delivery of anti-cancer drugs to tumor sites.

A novel linear-dendron-like polyampholyte, poly(L-lysine)-b-D2-poly(L-glutamic acid) [PLL-b-D2-(PLGA)4], where D2 is the second generation of poly(amido amine), was prepared by hydrolyzing poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine)-b-D2-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) copolymer which was synthesized via a combination of ring-opening polymerization and click chemistry. The pH-responsive self-assembly behaviors of PLL-b-D2-(PLGA)4 were investigated in detail. It is found that PLL-b-D2-(PLGA)4 can self-assemble into PLGA-core aggregates at acidic pH and PLL-core aggregates at alkaline pH, which was accompanied with the coil-to-helix conformational transition of PLGA and PLL segments, respectively. The self-assembled aggregates with various morphologies, such as large compound micelles, worm-like micelles, large compound vesicles, simple vesicles, and rigid tubular structures have been obtained in "schizophrenic" aggregation process with simply increasing the solution pH. The hierarchical assembled fractal structures of PLL-b-D2-(PLGA)4 were observed during the solvent evaporation at high pH value.

Lysine-based polycations are widely used as nonviral carriers for gene delivery. This manuscript reports the results of a comparative study on the in vitro cytotoxicity of a library of three structural polylysine variants, namely, linear polylysine (LPL), dendritic polylysine (DPL), and hyperbranched polylysine (HBPL). The aim of this study was to identify possible effects of polymer molecular weight and architecture on both immediate and delayed cytotoxicity and also to provide a mechanistic understanding for possible differences. Acute cytotoxicities were evaluated using cell viability assays with CHO DG44 cells. At comparable molecular weights, the EC(50) values for the LPL analogues were ∼5-250 times higher as compared to the DPL and HBPL samples. For low molecular weight polycations, osmotic shock was found to be an important contributor to immediate cell death, whereas for the higher molecular weight analogues, direct cell membrane disruption was identified to play a role. Delayed cytotoxicity (≥3 h) was assessed by identifying several of the hallmark events that characterize apoptosis, including phosphatidyl serine translocation, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, cytoplasmic cytochrome C release, and caspase 3 activation. At comparable molecular weights, apoptosis was found to be more pronounced for DPL and HBPL as compared to LPL. This difference was ascribed to the fact that LPL is completely enzymatically degradable, in contrast to DPL and HBPL, which also contain ε-peptidic bonds and are only partially degradable. Because their toxicity profiles are similar, HBPL is an interesting (i.e., synthetically easily accessible and inexpensive) alternative to DPL for the nonviral delivery of DNA.

A new third generation amphiphilic glycodendrimer was synthesized from a stearylamide lysine dendrimer by condensation of the oligosaccharide moiety. By stepwise condensation and deprotection of di-boc lysine from a core of stearyl amide lysine, a third-generation stearylamide lysine dendrimer was constructed. Acetyl cellobiose and glucose units with the carboxylic acid at the end of alkyl chain attached to the reducing end of the sugar moiety was condensed with surface amino groups of the third generation lysine dendrimer, respectively, to give a new stearylamide acetylcellobiose and acetylglucose lysine dendrimers. The structural analysis was carried out using NMR, IR, and matrix-associated laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI TOF) mass spectroscopies. After deacetylation to recover hydroxyl groups and subsequent sulfation, the third-generation sulfated cellobiose stearylamide lysine dendrimer was preliminarily found to have high anti-HIV activity at a 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) as low as 6.4 μg/ml and low cytotoxicity at a 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC(50)) as high as 1000 μg/ml, indicating that the dendrimer gave the enhancement of the functionality of oligosaccharides with low molecular weights. The glycodendrimer with a hydrophobic stearyl chain is immobilized on hydrophobic surfaces by hydrophobic interaction and is expected to provide a new biomedical material with the surface functionality of hydrophilic sulfated oligosaccharides., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We report the synthesis and characterization of different generations of dendritic poly(l-lysine) vectors, and their use for in vitro gene transfection. Gel retardation assay revealed that the dendrimers could form complexes with plasmid DNAs (pDNAs), evident from the inhibition of the migration of pDNA at the N/P ratios of 0.5, 1 and 2 by G3, G4 and G5 dendritic generations, respectively. DNase I assay revealed the protection of pDNA acquired from the complexation with dendrimers from nuclease-catalyzed degradation, with the protection capacity of G5 being even stronger than poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that all 4 generations of dendrimer/DNA complexes studied were of similar particle sizes within 100-200nm. Zeta potential measurements showed that as the N/P ratio increased from 1 to 25, all dendrimer/pDNA complexes gradually changed from negative to positive charges. The higher generations tended to produce the greater positive potentials, indicating a stronger potency of the complexes to interact with negatively charged cell membranes. In vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity evaluations showed good biocompatibility of the dendrimers and their complexes over the different N/P ratios studied. In vitro gene transfection revealed higher efficiency of G5 than other dendrimers and insensitive variation to the presence of serum. Given its similar transfection efficiency to PEI but lower toxicity to cultured cells, dendrimer G5 could be a better candidate for gene delivery., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The synthesis and characterisation of new arborescent architectures of poly(L-lysine), called lysine dendrigraft (DGL) polymers, are described. DGL polymers were prepared through a multiple-generation scheme (up to generation 5) in a weakly acidic aqueous medium by polycondensing N(epsilon)-trifluoroacetyl-L-lysine-N-carboxyanhydride (Lys(Tfa)-NCA) onto the previous generation G(n-1) of DGL, which was used as a macroinitiator. The first generation employed spontaneous NCA polycondensation in water without a macroinitiator; this afforded low-molecular-weight, linear poly(L-lysine) G1 with a polymerisation degree of 8 and a polydispersity index of 1.2. The spontaneous precipitation of the growing N(epsilon)-Tfa-protected polymer (GnP) ensures moderate control of the molecular weight (with unimodal distribution) and easy work-up. The subsequent alkaline removal of Tfa protecting groups afforded generation Gn of DGL as a free form (with 35-60% overall yield from NCA precursor, depending on the DGL generation) that was either used directly in the synthesis of the next generation (G(n+1)) or collected for other uses. Unprotected forms of DGL G1-G5 were characterised by size-exclusion chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The latter technique allowed us to assess the branching density of DGL, the degree of which (ca. 25%) turned out to be intermediate between previously described dendritic graft poly(L-lysines) and lysine dendrimers. An optimised monomer (NCA) versus macroinitiator (DGL G(n-1)) ratio allowed us to obtain unimodal molecular weight distributions with polydispersity indexes ranging from 1.3 to 1.5. Together with the possibility of reaching high molecular weights (with a polymerisation degree of ca. 1000 for G5) within a few synthetic steps, this synthetic route to DGL provides an easy, cost-efficient, multigram-scale access to dendritic polylysines with various potential applications in biology and in other domains.

Intravenous delivery of apolipoprotein B-specific siRNA with a sixth-generation of dendritic poly(L-lysine) (KG6) resulted in siRNA-mediated knockdown of ApoB in healthy C57BL/6 mice without hepatotoxicity, and with a significant reduction of serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

The molecular mechanisms of action of the polycationic peptides--polylysine homo- and heterodendrimers on functional activity of biogenic amines- and peptide hormones-sensitive adenylyl; cyclase signaling system (AC system) in the myocardium and the brain of rats were studied. These peptides are expected to be used as highly effective polymer carries for biologically active substances. The polylysine homodendrimers of the third [(NH2)16(Lys)8(Lys)4(Lys)2Lys-Ala-NH2] (I), fourth [(NH2)32(Lys)16(Lys)8(Lys)4(Lys)2Lys-Ala-NH2 (II) and fifth [(NH2)64(Lys)32(Lys)16(Lys)8(Lys)4(Lys)2Lys-Ala-NH2] (III) generations and the polylysine homodendrimers of fifth generation--[(NH2)64(Lys-Glu)32(Lys-Glu)16(Lys-Glu)8(Lys-Glu)4(Lys-Glu)2Lys-Ala-Ala-Lys (ClAc)-Ala-NH2] (IV), [(NH2)64(Lys-Ala)32(Lys-Ala)16(Lys-Ala)8(Lys-Ala)4(Lys-Ala)2Lys-Ala-Lys(ClAc)-Ala-Ala-NH2] (V) and [(NH2)64(Lys-Gly-Gly)32(Lys-Gly-Gly)16(Lys-Gly-Gly)8(Lys-Gly-Gly)4(Lys-Gly-Gly)2 Lys-Gly-Gly-Lys(ClAc)-Ala-Ala-NH2] (VI) showed receptor-independent mechanism of heterotrimeric G-proteins activity, preferably of inhibitory type, interacting with C-terminal regions of their alpha-subunits. The homodendrimers II and III and heterodendrimer V are more effective G-protein activators. The polylysine dendrimers disturbed the functional coupling of the receptors of biogenic amines and peptides hormones with Gi-proteins and, in a lesser extent, Gs-proteins. This is illustrated by the decrease in regulatory effects of the hormones on AX activity and G-protein GTP binding and by the decrease in receptor affinity to agonists in the presence of the polylysine dendrimers, as result of receptor--G-proteins complex dissociation. It was shown also that the molecular mechanisms and the selectivity of the action on the G-proteins of the polylysine dendrimers were similar to those of mastoparan and melittin, natural toxins of insect venom.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential use of dendritic alpha,epsilon-poly(L-lysine)s (DPL) for the efficient cellular delivery of antisense oligonucleotides., Methods: A series of dendritic alpha,epsilon-polylysines of various generations were prepared. Their physical properties and the ability to form complex with oligonucleotide were investigated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), agarose gel electrophoresis, fluorescence titration and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The efficiency to deliver oligonucleotide to HeLa cells, stably transfected with plasmid pLuc/705, was evaluated by using antisense splicing correction assay and confocal microscopy., Results: DPLs formed the complexes with antisense oligonucleotide with modest cytotoxicity. The charge ratio of oligonucleotide to DPL and the size (generation) of DPLs were all critical variables for the antisense effect. Compared to low generation DPLs, high generation DPLs were more effective in delivering oligonucleotide into cells., Conclusions: High generation DPL-oligonucleotide complexes were moderately effective for delivery antisense oligonucleotide. The complex formation provides a promise for in vivo therapeutic application of DPLs or their derivatives in the delivery of gene or oligonucleotide.

In this study, we synthesized dendritic poly(L-lysine)s (DPKs), dendritic poly(L-ornithine)s (DPOs), which are constructed as novel amino acid dendrimers, and PEGylated KG6 (the sixth generation of DPKs), and evaluated the physicochemical properties and biodistribution characteristics of these dendrimers. The particle size of DPKs and DPOs was well controlled in the nanometer range. The zeta-potential of these dendrimers was slightly positive and this gradually increased in association with their generation. After intravenous administration to mice, all tested dendrimers cleared rapidly from blood flow and mainly accumulated in the liver and kidney. The hepatic and renal accumulation changed in a generation-dependent manner. In contrast, no significant distributional differences between same generation of DPK and DPO were observed, although the constituent amino acids, particle size, and zeta-potential were different. However, PEGylation of KG6 caused great changes in particle size, zeta-potential, blood retention and organ distribution in vivo, indicating that the PEGylation is applicable strategy to improve biodistribution characteristics of dendrimeric molecules. The information provided by this study will be helpful for the development of future drug delivery systems using amino acid dendrimers as safe drug carriers.