Katarzyna Winnicka

Wpływ dendrymerów klasy PAMAM na przeżywalność fibroblastów skóry ludzkiej oraz komórek raka piersi MCF-7 i MDA-MB-231
2008-04-22

The effect of PAMAM dendrimers on viability of human fibroblasts and MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Dendrimers are synthetic polymers with a highly branched three-dimensional architecture. They are identical, monodisperse macromolecules that expose many end groups at their globular periphery. Poly(amidoamine) or PAMAM dendrimers are the first complete dendrimer family to be commercialized. The attractive nano-sized architectures make them suitable for many pharmaceutical applications such as delivery of DNA and oligonucleotides into eukaryotic cells, solubilization of sparingly soluble drugs, nanocarriers for transepithelial transport, and platforms for cancer therapeutics. However, currently little information exists regarding the toxicity of PAMAM dendrimers in various cell lines. Using two independent cytotoxic assays, it has been demonstrated that positively-charged PAMAM dendrimers (with NH₂ termini) displayed concentration-dependent toxicity in all examined cell lines. PAMAM dendrimers with OH groups after 24h of incubation do not elicit toxicity towards MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and towards human fibroblasts up to concentration 1 M. These studies indicated that PAMAM dendrimers with OH termini might be considered as biocompatible and non toxic carriers.