Multivalent dendrons for high-affinity DNA binding

Abstract

In this Thesis the synthesis of various Newkome-type polyamine dendrons and their DNA binding properties is presented. These cationic dendrons bind DNA with extremely high affinity through multivalent ionic interactions. Dendrons with o-nitrobenzyl linked surface groups can be cleaved from the dendron framework by optical irradiation resulting in rapid release of the covalently bound surface groups and non-covalently bound DNA, due to dendron degradation and charge switching multivalency. N-maleimido cored dendrons can be attached onto protein surfaces in site-specific manner to yield exactly defined one-to-one protein-polymer conjugates, where the number of dendrons and their attachment site on the protein surface is precisely known. The resulting protein-dendron conjugates bind DNA with high affinity. Further studies in gene transfection, cytotoxicity and self-assembly establish relevance in gene therapy and surface patterning.