title: Dermatan sulfate/chitosan polyelectrolyte complex with potential application in the treatment and diagnosis of vascular disease.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the largest single cause of morbid-mortality in the world. However, there is still no pharmaceutical treatment that directly targets the blood vessel wall instead of just controlling the risk factors. Here, we produced polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) by a simple and reproducible polyelectrolyte complexation method between low molecular mass dermatan sulfate (polyanionic polysaccharide) and chitosan (polycationic polysaccharide), and evaluated the cellular uptake by vascular endothelial cells. The composition and the composition homogeneity of PECs were confirmed by (13)C-CP-MAS spectroscopy and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. The hydrodynamic radius, determined by dynamic light scattering, was 729±11nm. PECs were not cytotoxic for a murine heart endothelium-derived cell line. Fluorescent confocal microscopy showed the specific uptake of fluorescently-labeled PECs by endothelial cells when they were cultured alone or in the presence of macrophages. Overall, these findings confirmed the potential of these PECs for targeting different agents to the vessel wall in the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of vascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Rita Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Rasente
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET, Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Julieta C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Imperiale
authors.affiliation: Department of Organic Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET, Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lázaro-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gualco
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET, Av. Rivadavia 1917, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oberkersch
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Nanomaterials Science, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Technion City, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sosnik
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, C1113AAD Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: gcalabe@ffyb.uba.ar.
authors.forename: Graciela C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Calabrese
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008970:Molecular Weight; D000071228:Polyelectrolytes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000067996:RAW 264.7 Cells; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000071228:Polyelectrolytes; D003871:Dermatan Sulfate; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Chitosan; Endothelial uptake; Low molecular mass dermatan sulfate; Polyelectrolyte complexes; Vascular disease