title: Biocompatible and target specific hydrophobically modified glycol chitosan nanoparticles.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Atherosclerosis is a major cause for cardiovascular diseases. Drugs that treat atherosclerosis usually act nonspecifically. To enhance drug delivery specificity, the authors developed a hydrophobically modified glycol chitosan (HGC) nanoparticle that can specifically target activated endothelial cells. The biocompatibility of these nanoparticles toward red blood cells and platelets was evaluated through hemolysis, platelet activation, platelet thrombogenicity, and platelet aggregation assays. The biocompatibility of these nanoparticles toward vascular endothelial cells was evaluated by their effects on endothelial cell growth, metabolic activity, and activation. The results demonstrated that HGC nanoparticles did not cause hemolysis, or affect platelet activation, thrombogenicity, and aggregation capability in vitro. The nanoparticles did not impair vascular endothelial cell growth or metabolic activities in vitro, and did not cause cell activation either. When conjugated with intercellular adhesion molecular 1 antibodies, HGC nanoparticles showed a significantly increased targeting specificity toward activated endothelial cells. These results suggested that HGC nanoparticles are likely compatible toward red blood cells, platelets, and endothelial cells, and they can be potentially used to identify activated endothelial cells at atherosclerotic lesion areas within the vasculature, and deliver therapeutic drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Bioengineering Building, Room 109, Stony Brook, New York 11794.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794.
authors.forename: Weiyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794.
authors.forename: Yizhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008422:Materials Testing; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; C118638:glycol-chitosan; D048271:Chitosan