In Vitro Assessment of Poly-N-Vinylpyrrolidone/Acrylic Acid Nanoparticles Biocompatibility in a Microvascular Endothelium Model

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2022-10, Vol.23 (20), p.12446
• Main Authors: Berdiaki, Aikaterini, Kuskov, Andrey N., Kulikov, Pavel P., Thrapsanioti, Lydia-Nefeli, Giatagana, Eirini-Maria, Stivaktakis, Polychronis, Shtilman, Mikhail I., Tsatsakis, Aristidis, Nikitovic, Dragana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Acrylic acid; Adhesion; amphiphilic polymer; Anti-inflammatory agents; assessment; Biocompatibility; Cell activation; Confocal microscopy; Copolymers; Cytoplasm; Drug delivery systems; Dyes; E-selectin; Efficiency; Endothelial cells; Endothelium; Homeostasis; Hydrogels; Immunofluorescence; Immunology; Intercellular adhesion molecule 1; Lipopolysaccharides; Microscopy; Microvasculature; Molecular weight; Morphology; nanoparticle; Nanoparticles; poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone; Polymers; Surfactants; Vaccines; Viability
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232012446

An amphiphilic copolymer of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and acrylic acid—namely, p(VP-AA)-OD6000 (p(VP-AA))—was synthesized to prepare p(VP-AA) nanoparticles (NPs). Furthermore, the copolymer was linked with CFSE, and the so-prepared nanoparticles were loaded with the DiI dye to form D nanoparticles (DNPs). In this study, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy, immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopy, DNPs were readily taken up by human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Upon uptake, both the CFSE dye (green stain) and the DiI dye (red stain) were localized to the cytoplasm of treated cells. Treatment with p(VP-AA) did not affect the viability of normal and challenged with LPS, HMEC-1 cells at 0.010 mg/mL and induced a dose-dependent decrease of these cells’ viability at the higher concentrations of 0.033 and 0.066 mg/mL (p ≤ 0.01; p ≤ 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, we focused on the potential immunological activation of HMEC-1 endothelial cells upon p(VP-AA) NPs treatment by assessing the expression of adhesion molecules (E-Selectin, ICAM-1, and V-CAM). NPs treatments at concentrations utilized (p = NS) did not affect individual adhesion molecules’ expression. p(VP-AA) NPs do not activate the endothelium and do not affect its viability at pharmacologically relevant concentrations.