ROS-sensitive selenium-containing cationic brush polymer with potent gene transfection efficiency and biocompatibility

Smart gene delivery vectors are gaining increasing attention in gene therapy, owing to their low cytotoxicity and intrinsic responsiveness. Our previously fabricated novel cationic brush polymer, comprising C  Se bonds and tertiary amine EGIn- g -PDMAEMA, shows potential for gene transfection. In this study, its high efficiency for siRNA/pDNA transfection and low cytotoxicity in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-rich microenvironments is substantiated in vitro. Its superior binding capacity with siRNA/pDNA is confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis assay. The threshold weight ratios for siRNA/pDNA migration delay are 15 and 3 (polymer-to-nucleic acid, w/w), respectively. Fluorescence microscopy and ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 gene silencing essay verify the biodegradability and responsive control release of nucleic acids under hydrogen peroxide stimulation in Huh-7 cells. Compared with the gold standard, polyethylenimine 25 kDa, the target polymer displays superior transfection efficiency in ROS-rich tumor cells under serum-free conditions. Furthermore, the vector–nucleic acid complexes exhibit over 90% cell viability at a high concentration of 12 μg mL −1 and good colloidal stability in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and 10% fetal bovine serum-PBS for 24 h. The efficient control release and expression of nucleic acids in ROS environments and reduced cytotoxicity highlight the superiority of EGIn- g -PDMAEMA as a gene delivery platform for tumor gene therapy.