Induction of human alveolar epithelial cell growth factor receptors by dendrimeric nanostructures

Although nonviral dendrimeric nanostructures have been widely used as gene delivery systems, key questions about target cells responses to these nanostructures are yet to be answered. Here, we report the responsiveness of A431 and A549 cells upon treatment with polypropylenimine diaminobutane (DAB) dendrimers nanosystems. Complexation of DAB dendrimers with DNA reduced the zeta potential of nanostructures, but increased their size. Fluorescence microscopy revealed high transfection efficiency in both cell lines treated with DAB dendrimers with induced cytotoxicity evidenced by MTT assay. The A549 cells showed upregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its downstream signalling biomolecule Akt kinase upon treatment with DAB dendrimers, while no changes were observed in A431 cells. Based on our findings, the biological impacts of these nanosystems appeared to be cell dependent. Thus, the biological responses of target cells should be taken into account when these nanostructures are used as gene delivery system.