Preliminary evaluation of the behavior of fifth-generation thiophosphate dendrimer in biological systems

The quickly growing number of newly synthesized families of dendrimers is not always followed by the information about their properties. Especially, the biological aspect seems not to be explored sufficiently. The aim of this study was to examine the hemotoxicity and cytotoxicity of water-insoluble, fifth-generation thiophosphate dendrimer (theoretical M-w = 20 025). We were particularly interested in the impact of dendrimer on human red blood cells structure and membrane integrity. We also evaluated the impact of the thiophosphate-based dendrimer on the growth of nucleated cells represented by Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-KI line). We found that the interaction of dendrimer with erythrocyte membrane proteins triggers echinocytosis but also increases erythrocyte membrane stability and its thermal durability. We observed that the dendrimer moderately stimulated cloning and increased the rate of CHO cellular metabolism.