Polyethyleneimines (PEIs) are widely explored as non-viral vectors for gene and drug delivery because of their ability to condense nucleic acids into nanoparticles, known as polyplexes. Compared with viral vectors, PEIs offer several advantages, including lower immunogenicity, greater loading capacity, and reduced production costs. Despite these benefits, their clinical application remains limited due to relatively low transfection efficiency.
A critical factor influencing successful delivery is polyplex formation, which dictates cellular uptake and timely intracellular release. For optimal function, polyplexes must balance stability to prevent premature nucleic acid release with the ability to release genetic cargo inside target cells. To improve understanding, researchers are investigating the intermolecular interactions and structural changes involved in polyplex formation. Attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy provides valuable molecular-level insights into DNA binding and structure, making it a powerful tool for characterizing polyplexes formed with both linear and branched PEI architectures.
The Harrick ConcentratIR2™ ATR accessory combines the high sensitivity of multiple-reflection ATR measurements with only microvolume sample requirements. The consistency of results affirms its effectiveness in capturing comparable data across different biological models.
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