Synthesis, Characterization, and Activity Determination of Dendrimer-streptokinase Conjugated and Finding Protein Corona and Evaluation of Cytotoxicity

Nowadays, dendrimer conjugation with low molecular weight drugs has been considered for pharmacokinetics improvement, targeting drugs to particular sites, and helping cellular uptake. Increasing the performance of relatively great therapeutic proteins like streptokinase (SK) using dendrimers is being explored. In this study, G2 dendrimer and dendrimer-streptokinase-conjugates were synthesized. After synthesis of dendrimer-SK conjugates, characterization of these conjugates by Fourier-transform infrared radiation (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that the conjugation reaction was a success, which resulted in relatively pure SK-dendrimer conjugates and checked the cytotoxicity effect. Here, we reveal that the dendrimer-streptokinase conjugates formed protein corona in whole blood cells. These results make emphasis on the need for testing the formation and biological importance of the protein corona in the blood as the nanoparticles are released into. Moreover, the potency of dendrimer-SK conjugates was greater than streptokinase. It seems that high enzymatic activity of dendrimer-SK conjugates can be a favorable way for changing bioactive macromolecules with dendrimer. Furthermore, injection of dendrimer-streptokinase conjugates may be promising for the treatment of many conditions.