Contribution of hydrophobicity, DNA and proteins to the cytotoxicity of cationic PAMAM dendrimers.

In most articles, cytotoxicity of cationic polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers toward red blood cells has been exclusively explained by their surface charge. We have focused on dendrimer hydrophobicity as a second possible factor that determines this cytotoxicity. Using PAMAM-NH2 dendrimers from the 3rd to the 6th generations and PAMAM-NH2-C12(25%) dendrimer of the 4th generation bearing 25% acyl groups, these induced hemolysis that increased with their surface charge and hydrophobicity. Interaction of PAMAM-NH2-C12(25%) G4 dendrimer with blood proteins (γ-globulin, α-thrombin, human serum albumin) and calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) significantly reduced their cytotoxicity toward red blood cells.