Cationic Graft Copolymers Synthesis

Sodium phosphate buffer saline (PBS, pH = 7.4), DMEM-F12 medium, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and trypsin were received from Aldrich (Poznań, Poland). Propidium iodide solution (PI, BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA), Annexin-V apoptosis assay (BioLegend, San Diego, CA, USA), physiological saline (PBS without Ca and Mg, PAN-Biotech Gmbh, Aidenbach, Germany), fetal bovine serum (FBS, EURx, Gdańsk, Poland) and Annexin-V binding buffer (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA) were used without prior preparation. Human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) were purchased from ATCC (Cat# ATCC^®CRL-9609; Manassas, VA, USA). Graft copolymers containing TMAMA units with chloride counterions were synthesized by controlled atom transfer radical polymerization, whereas their conjugates with p-aminosalicylic (PAS) or clavulanic (CLV) anions were obtained by chloride anion exchange, according to previously described procedures [27 (link)].