Design and synthesis of a new polymer drug delivery conjugate
Christie, R.J.; Findley, D.J.; Grainger, D.W.
Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation 40: 136-141
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0067-8856 PMID: 15133948 Document Number: 584103
This work describes the design and synthesis of a novel polymer conjugate to facilitate intracellular release of attached cargo. Water soluble poly[N(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide] with derivatizable pendant side chains was used as the polymer carrier. The membrane active Tat peptide was masked with poly(ethylene glycol) to inhibit non-specific interactions with exterior cell membranes, and then covalently linked to poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide]. A novel heterobifunctional crosslinker was synthesized containing both maleimide and aldehyde functionality to allow attachment of peptides to the polymer backbone through a pH sensitive bond. Analysis of the proposed conjugate by gel permeation chromatography, nuclear absorbance spectroscopy, and absorbance measurements indicate that the desired compound has been synthesized.