• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.135-139
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• 2005

In this study, poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) modified by methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) and folate as a gene carrier was synthesized to decrease cytotoxicity and to improve in vivo targeting. mPEG was modified by glutaric anhydride (GA) to endow carboxylic end group, followed by the activation reaction with EDC (N-ethyl-N'-(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl) carbodiimide) and NHS (N-hydroxysuccinimide). The activated carboxylic end group of mPEG was reacted with the amines of PEI to give mPEG graft PEI. The mPEG-folate-graft-PEI was synthesized by the reaction of mPEG-PEI with folate pre-activated by EDC/NHS. The obtained copolymers were characterized by $^1H-NMR$ and FT-IR. Gel retardation assay and fluorescence measurement indicated that DNA formed the complexes with the synthesized copolymers above N/P charge ratio 2. The size of complexes was ranging from 100 nm to 300 m. In conclusion, we confirmed that the synthesized copolymer have the possibility as a DNA carrier.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1182-1188
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• 2016

Membrane-associated guanylate kinase inverted-3 (MAGI-3) is a member of the family of membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs). MAGI-3 modulates the kinase activity of protein kinase B (PKB)/AKT through interactions with phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)/MMAC. Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a common causative agent of acute myocarditis and chronic dilated cardiomyopathy. Activation of AKT and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) is essential for CVB3 replication, but the relation between MAGI-3 signaling and CVB3 replication is not well understood. This study investigated the role of MAGI-3 in CVB3 infection and replication. MAGI-3 was overexpressed in HeLa cells by polyethylenimine (PEI) transfection. To optimize the transfection conditions, different ratios of plasmid DNA to PEI concentrations were used. MAGI-3 and empty plasmid DNA were transfected into the HeLa cells. MAGI-3 overexpression alone was not sufficient to efficiently activate AKT. However, expression of the CVB3 capsid protein VP1 dramatically increased in the HeLa cells overexpressing MAGI-3 24 h after CVB3 infection. In addition, the activities of AKT and ERK were significantly induced in the CVB3-infected MAGI-3 cells overexpressing HeLa. These results demonstrate that MAGI-3 expression upregulates CVB3 replication through AKT and ERK signaling activation. MAGI-3 may be an important target to control CVB3 replication.