Poly(amido)amine (PAMAM) dendrimer–cisplatin complexes for chemotherapy of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells

Dendrimer–cisplatin complexes were prepared using PAMAM dendrimers with terminal –NH 2 and –COOH groups as well as biotin-conjugated dendrimers. Preformulation parameters of dendrimer–cisplatin complexes were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Cytotoxicity and mechanism of cytotoxicity of dendrimer-cisplatin complexes was investigated in OVCAR-3, SKOV, A2780 and cisplatin-resistant CP70 human ovarian cancer cell lines. The loading of cisplatin in dendrimers was ~11 % (w/w). PAMAM G4 dendrimers with amine surface groups (biotinylated and native) have shown 2.5- to 3.0-fold reduction in IC 50 values in ovarian cancer cells when compared with carboxylate surface dendrimers ( p