Star Polymers as Non-Viral Carriers for Apoptosis Induction

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 5; p. 608
• Main Authors: Fus-Kujawa, Agnieszka, Sieroń, Łukasz, Dobrzyńska, Estera, Chajec, Łukasz, Mendrek, Barbara, Jarosz, Natalia, Głowacki, Łukasz, Dubaj, Kamila, Dubaj, Wojciech, Kowalczuk, Agnieszka, Bajdak-Rusinek, Karolina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.04.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Bladder; Cancer; Cell culture; Cell Death; cross-membrane transport; Cytotoxicity; delivery systems; DNA damage; Efficiency; Fibroblasts; Flow cytometry; Gene therapy; Humans; Methacrylates - chemistry; Methacrylates - pharmacology; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Neurodegenerative diseases; Polymers; Polymers - chemistry; Polymers - pharmacology; star polymers vectors; Toxicity; United States > US; Germany; apoptosis; delivery systems; star polymers vectors; cross-membrane transport
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom12050608

Apoptosis is a widely controlled, programmed cell death, defects in which are the source of various diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer. The use of apoptosis in the therapy of various human diseases is of increasing interest, and the analysis of the factors involved in its regulation is valuable in designing specific carriers capable of targeting cell death. Highly efficient and precisely controlled delivery of genetic material by low-toxic carriers is one of the most important challenges of apoptosis-based gene therapy. In this work, we investigate the effect of the star polymer with 28 poly( '-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) arms (STAR) on human cells, according to its concentration and structure. We show that star polymer cytotoxicity increases within its concentration and time of cells treatment. Except for cytotoxic effect, we observe morphological changes such as a shrinkage, loss of shape and begin to detach. We also prove DNA condensation after star polymer treatment, one of the most characteristic feature of apoptosis. The results indicate that the use of STAR triggers apoptosis in cancer cells compared to various normal cells, what makes these nanoparticles a promising drug in therapeutic strategy, which targets apoptosis. We demonstrate highlighting potential of star polymers as an innovative tool for anti-cancer therapy.