title: Biocompatibility of a self-assembled glycol chitosan nanogel.
abstract: The research of chitosan-based nanogel for biomedical applications has grown exponentially in the last years; however, its biocompatibility is still insufficiently reported. Hence, the present work provides a thorough study of the biocompatibility of a glycol chitosan (GC) nanogel. The obtained results showed that GC nanogel induced slight decrease on metabolic activity of RAW, 3T3 and HMEC cell cultures, although no effect on cell membrane integrity was verified. The nanogel does not promote cell death by apoptosis and/or necrosis, exception made for the HMEC cell line challenged with the higher GC nanogel concentration. Cell cycle arrest on G1 phase was observed only in the case of RAW cells. Remarkably, the nanogel is poorly internalized by bone marrow derived macrophages and does not trigger the activation of the complement system. GC nanogel blood compatibility was confirmed through haemolysis and whole blood clotting time assays. Overall, the results demonstrated the safety of the use of the GC nanogel as drug delivery system.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: paulapereira@deb.uminho.pt.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: silviasantospedrosa@deb.uminho.pt.
authors.forename: Sílvia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Pedrosa
authors.affiliation: IBMC - Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Rua Campo Alegre, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: alexlopescorreia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Center for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, Department of Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: lima@bio.uminho.pt.
authors.forename: Cristovao F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Research (IBIV), Biomedical Research Center (CINBIO), University of Vigo, 36310 Campus Lagoas de Marcosende, Vigo, Spain. Electronic address: mpeleteiro@uvigo.es.
authors.forename: Mercedes Peleteiro
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Olmedo
authors.affiliation: Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Research (IBIV), Biomedical Research Center (CINBIO), University of Vigo, 36310 Campus Lagoas de Marcosende, Vigo, Spain. Electronic address: gonzalezfernandezafrica@gmail.com.
authors.forename: África
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: González-Fernández
authors.affiliation: IBMC - Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Rua Campo Alegre, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal; Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n° 228, Porto 4050-313, Portugal. Electronic address: vilanova@icbas.up.pt.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilanova
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: fmgama@deb.uminho.pt.
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Gama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003167:Complement Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D016193:G1 Phase / Q000187:drug effects; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D000080385:Nanogels; D009336:Necrosis; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D000080385:Nanogels; C118638:glycol-chitosan; C413692:polyethylene glycol polyethyleneimine nanogel; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011094:Polyethyleneimine; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Apoptosis; Cell cycle; Complement activation; Cytotoxicity; Glycol chitosan nanogel; Haemocompatibility