Gold Nanoparticle Dendrimer Conjugates for Gene Therapy

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dc.contributor.advisorDrezek, Rebekahen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSuh, Junghaeen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWong, Michaelen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberFoster, Aaronen_US
dc.creatorFigueroa, Elizabeth Raquelen_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-15T21:46:42Zen_US
dc.date.available2016-01-15T21:46:42Zen_US
dc.date.created2015-05en_US
dc.date.issued2015-04-24en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2015en_US
dc.date.updated2016-01-15T21:46:42Zen_US
dc.description.abstractGene therapy is a promising treatment that has enormous potential for the management of numerous diseases of acquired and innate origin. Viral delivery vectors are successful in delivering therapeutic DNA, but their efficacy is circumvented by immunogenicity and cost. Non-viral vectors face other issues of inflammatory response, colloidal stability, and low transfection efficiency. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have emerged as attractive nanocarriers for gene delivery. AuNPs are bioinert, easily synthesized, and possess rich surface chemistry that facilitates versatile functionalization. Therefore, AuNPs provide an excellent platform for gene delivery. Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers are commercially available cationic branched polymers in which growth branches from a core molecule. Their physiochemical properties make PAMAM dendrimers well suited for gene delivery applications. In this thesis, PAMAM dendrimers are functionalized on the surface of small AuNPs yielding a unique class of gene delivery vectors termed AuPAMAM vectors. We begin by establishing the synthesis and characterization of AuPAMAM vectors, showing that AuPAMAM colloidal stability and DNA condensation ability are dependent on the PAMAM conjugation reaction rate, and that this reaction rate can be altered to enhance transfection efficiency in vitro. Then, we further investigate the influence of each chemical component of the bottom-up AuPAMAM synthesis process by systematically probing each step of the reaction and analyzing its effect on the overall transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity. Finally, in order to clarify the mechanism underlying the differential transfection efficiency seen across many cell lines and tissues, the AuPAMAM vectors are tracked intracellularly over time in vitro using confocal imaging, cellular TEM and flow cytometry. Together, this thesis demonstrates that AuPAMAM conjugates present attractive candidates for non-viral gene delivery due to their commercial availability, ease of fabrication and scale-up, high yield, high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity. Additionally, this thesis demonstrates the need to characterize the tissue-specific transfection hurdles vectors face in order to improve application-specific non-viral vector design.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationFigueroa, Elizabeth Raquel. "Gold Nanoparticle Dendrimer Conjugates for Gene Therapy." (2015) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/87872">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/87872</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/87872en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectGold nanoparticlesen_US
dc.subjectGene therapyen_US
dc.subjectPAMAM dendrimersen_US
dc.titleGold Nanoparticle Dendrimer Conjugates for Gene Therapyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentBioengineeringen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineeringen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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