Transfection of Macrophages with PAMAM-Pyrrolidone Dendrimers Complexed with Cu(II)- or Zn(II)- ions as Carriers of Genetic Material.

Zn(II) and Cu(II) complexes of a generation 4 DAB-core PAMAM dendrimer with 5-methoxycarbonyl-2-pyrrolidinone (Pyrr) surface groups were prepared and investigated as carriers for siRNA in different cell lines. The Cu(II) complex (CuSO4)18@DAB-dendr-(Pyrr)64 is significantly better than lipofectamine for transfection of macrophages, while the Zn(II) complex only show low transfection activity. Both complexes are more cytotoxic than the free metal ions.