Synthesis and characterization of a novel methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-Tat peptide-chitosan copolymers

In this paper, a novel chitosan-g-(-O-methyl poly (ethylene glycol))-g-(-N-Tat peptide) (CS-mPEG-Tat) copolymer was synthesized. The synthesized intermediates and final products were characterized and confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrum, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The particle sizes, size distributions, and zeta potentials can also be determined by dynamic light scattering. Agarose gel electrophoresis study showed effective DNA-binding ability of CS-mPEG-Tat. In vitro cytotoxicity assay indicated that CS-mPEG-Tat copolymers were low toxic and cell compatible as the polymer concentration was smaller than 5 mg/ml. This work provides a facile approach to prepare biocompatible PEG-peptide-chitosan copolymer nanoparticles with controllable performances. In conclusion, the obtained CS-mPEG-Tat copolymer might be attractive cationic polymers for nonviral gene therapy.