Cytotoxicity evaluation of a temperature­ sensitive poly (n-isopropylacrylamide) nanogel on cell viability, in vitro / Nurul Fatihah Abdul Jalil

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAM) is one of the most established smart polymers which has potential as a carrier for drugs targeting the skin. The current work concern the biocompatibility of such material with the skin cells since they are directly in contact upon application and may induce unwanted reactions. Initially, the polyNIPAM of nanometre scale particles were synthesized by using a single-step surfactant-free emulsion polymerization. The resulting particles were characterised based on their particle size, size distribution, zeta potential, morphology as well as their behaviour with respect to changes in surrounding temperatures. The poly NIP AM and its monomer were dosed on 3T3 L 1 fibroblast skin cells, in vitro and their effects on the cell viability were determined by MTT assay. The results suggested that the nanoparticles at variant studied concentrations (i.e. 1, 5, 10 and 15% w/v) demonstrated insignificant cytotoxic response to 3T3 L 1 cells. IC50 value was not obtained from the growth inhibitory (GI) percentage, as the polyNIPAM nanogel was not able to inhibit 50% of the population. Therefore, it can be suggested that the polyNIPAM particles are biocompatible at 15% w/v concentrations or below for fibroblast cells.