Poly(allylamine)-tripolyphosphate ionic assemblies as nanocarriers: friend or foe?

Abstract

Designing effective drug nanocarriers that are easy to synthesize, robust, non-toxic, and capable of encapsulating therapeutic agents is a significant challenge in nanomedicine. Polyamine-multivalent molecule nanocomplexes have been proposed as drug carriers due to their simple and all-aqueous manufacturing process. In this study, polyallylamine was ionically assembled with tripolyphosphate anions to form nanocomplexes with a size of around 200 nm and a zeta potential of -30 mV. Nanocomplexes exhibit tremendous long-term stability (9 months of storage) and in complex media. They are also capable of encapsulating various proteins as model bioactive cargoes. In addition, biological studies demonstrate that nanocomplexes are not significantly toxic and can be internalized by macrophages. Therefore, these nanocomplexes have attractive and promising properties as delivery nanoplatforms for potential therapies based on immune system activation