Posted by Researchers from Mexico 🇲🇽 investigated dendronized βCD molecular containers designed to improve cellular uptake while maintaining biocompatibility. In human astrocyte and glioblastoma cell models, these modified CDs ( βCD-modified with dimethylolpropionic acid (Bis-MPA) dendrons (βCD-m2G and βCD-m3G)) exhibited low cytotoxicity, entered cells efficiently, and altered lipid metabolism without inducing stress in smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) or disrupting normal astrocyte differentiation. The uptake of the tested materials by the studied cell lines most likely occurs via simple diffusion, potentially through the formation of lipid inclusion bodies (LIBs), which facilitate the internalization of the molecular containers. The findings provide new insight into how functionalized CDs interact with brain cells and support their continued development as molecular carriers for drug delivery and other biomedical applications.
Neyra Citlali Cabrera-Quiñones, Elisa Roldán-Barreto, Rosalía Zúñiga-Castellanos, … et al., Patricia Guadarrama (2026) Biological responses of human astrocytes (SVGp12) and glioblastoma (A172) cells to dendronized β-cyclodextrin molecular containers: Morphological and molecular insights. Bioorganic Chemistry 180, 110194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioorg.2026.110194.