Effects of the surface charge of polyamidoamine dendrimers on cellular exocytosis and the exocytosis mechanism in multidrug-resistant breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer applications have extended from tumor cells to multidrug-resistant tumor cells. However, their transportation in multidrug-resistant tumor cells remains unclear. Herein, we investigated the exocytosis rule and mechanism of PAMAM dendrimers in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. RESULTS: Using a multidrug-resistant human breast cancer cell model (MCF-7/ADR), we performed systematic analyses of the cellular exocytosis dynamics, pathways and mechanisms of three PAMAM dendrimers with different surface charges: positively charged PAMAM-NH(2), neutral PAMAM-OH and negatively charged PAMAM-COOH. The experimental data indicated that in MCF-7/ADR cells, the exocytosis rate was the highest for PAMAM-NH(2) and the lowest for PAMAM-OH. Three intracellular transportation processes and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) participated in PAMAM-NH(2) exocytosis in MCF-7/ADR cells. Two intracellular transportation processes, P-gp and multidrug resistance (MDR)-associated protein participated in PAMAM-COOH exocytosis. P-gp and MDR-associated protein participated in PAMAM-OH exocytosis. Intracellular transportation processes, rather than P-gp and MDR-associated protein, played major roles in PAMAM dendrimer exocytosis. PAMAM-NH(2) could enter MCF-7/ADR cells by forming nanoscale membrane holes, but this portion of PAMAM-NH(2) was eliminated by P-gp. Compared with PAMAM-OH and PAMAM-COOH, positively charged PAMAM-NH(2) was preferentially attracted to the mitochondria and cell nuclei. Major vault protein (MVP) promoted exocytosis of PAMAM-NH(2) from the nucleus but had no effect on the exocytosis of PAMAM-OH or PAMAM-COOH. CONCLUSIONS: Positive charges on the surface of PAMAM dendrimer promote its exocytosis in MCF-7/ADR cells. Three intracellular transportation processes, attraction to the mitochondria and cell nucleus, as well as nuclear efflux generated by MVP led to the highest exocytosis observed for PAMAM-NH(2). Our findings provide theoretical guidance to design a surface-charged tumor-targeting drug delivery system with highly efficient transfection in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Especially, to provide more DNA to the nucleus and enhance DNA transfection efficiency in multidrug-resistant tumor cells using PAMAM-NH(2), siRNA-MVP or an inhibitor should be codelivered to decrease MVP-mediated nuclear efflux. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-021-00881-w.