Polycations are explored as carriers to deliver therapeutic nucleic acids. Polycations are conventionally pharmacological inert with the sole function of delivering therapeutic cargo. This study reports synthesis of a self-immolative polycation (DSS-BEN) based on a polyamine analogue drug N(1),N(11)-bisethylnorspermine (BENSpm). The polycation was designed to function dually as a gene delivery carrier and a prodrug targeting dysregulated polyamine metabolism in cancer. Using a combination of NMR and HPLC, we confirm that the self-immolative polycation undergoes intracellular degradation into the parent drug BENSpm. The released BENSpm depletes cellular levels of spermidine and spermine and upregulates polyamine catabolic enzymes spermine/spermidine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) and spermine oxidase (SMO). The synthesized polycations form polyplexes with DNA and facilitate efficient transfection. Taking advantage of the ability of BENSpm to sensitize cancer cells to TNFα-induced apoptosis, we show that DSS-BEN enhances the cell killing activity of TNFα gene therapy. The reported findings validate DSS-BEN as a dual-function delivery system that can deliver a therapeutic gene and improve the outcome of gene therapy as a result of the intracellular degradation of DSS-BEN to BENSpm and the subsequent beneficial effect of BENSpm on dysregulated polyamine metabolism in cancer.
