Title:Low Concentrations of Cationic PAMAM Dendrimers Affect Lymphocyte Respiration in In vitro Studies
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Author(s): Magdalena Labieniec-Watala, Marzena Szwed, Joanna Hertel and Ewelina Wisnik
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Biomaterials, mitochondria, morphology, nanotechnology, PAMAM dendrimers, toxicity.
Abstract: Background: In this study, the effect of low concentrations of poly(amido)amine dendrimers
(G2-G4) on human lymphocytes was studied. Some works revealed that PAMAMs can adversely affect
the morphology of blood components and mitochondria functions. In this context, the present report
aimed to investigate the in vitro cationic dendrimers’ effect on mitochondrial respiration and cell morphology
in lymphocytes isolated from human blood.
Methods: To monitor the mitochondrial changes, the high-resolution respirometer was used, whereas
the cell morphology was analyzed using a flow cytometer and fluorescence microscopy.
Results: The concentration-dependent dendrimers’ influence on lymphocytes morphology was shown.
Changes in mitochondrial respiration revealed the concentration- and generation-dependent differences between
dendrimer activity. There were no alterations in the routine respiration and in the state of the inner
mitochondrial membrane (L/E), but decreased ADP- and FCCP-stimulated respirations were detected after
treatment with G3 and G4 dendrimers. The markers of mitochondrial membrane integrity (RCR) and OXPHOS
efficiency (P/E) significantly decreased regardless of the dendrimer generation used.
Conclusion: Based on these in vitro evaluations, we state that cationic PAMAM dendrimers can impair
both the morphology and the bioenergetics of human lymphocytes, even when used at low concentrations
and in a short time (up to 1 h). However, these results do not imply that similar findings could be
possible for in vivo observations.
