The characterization of protein-corona formation on the functionalized dendrimers with CDX peptide after incubation with plasma of glioma patients

Abstract

CDX peptide has been used as a multifunctional ligand to facilitate targeted delivery of nanocarriers through the BBB by using nAChR receptor. However, the effect of CDX-coated nanoparticles and protein corona formation on these cells in the U87MG cells remains unclear. Method Briefly, CDX peptide was conjugated to low (l), medium (M) and high (h) densities at the PAMAM pegylated surface. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the modified CDX-PAMAM absorbed many proteins from the plasma and formed a layer of protein corona on their surface. Cytotoxicity and cellular uprake of these particles on U87-MG were evaluated by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. Results This study demonstrated that (1) the protein corona of healthy plasma alleviated the cytotoxicity of CDX decorated PAMAM dendrimer, (2) a presence or absence of protein corona (healthy, glioma) on the surface of CDX decorated PAMAM did not affect its cellular uptake ability. Conclusion: This study could provide a broad view of the new mechanisms of induction of protein corona cytotoxicity as well as offers pre-treatment of CDX peptide decorated nanoparticles to enhance the anti-glioma activity of them.