Open Access

REVIEW

Impact of chitosan-based nanocarriers on cytoskeleton dynamics: Current status and challenges

M. CAROLINA DI SANTO^1,2,#, AGUSTINA ALAIMO^1,2,#, ANA PAULA DOMÍNGUEZ RUBIO^1,2, OSCAR E. PÉREZ^1,2,*

1 Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IQUIBICEN-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

* Corresponding Author:OSCAR E. PÉREZ. Email:

BIOCELL 2022, 46(4), 885-891. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.018391

Received 21 July 2021; Accepted 06 October 2021; Issue published 15 December 2021

Abstract

Chitosan-based nanocarriers (CS-NCs) show a promising role in improving drugs and bioactive compounds delivery for therapy. However, the effects exerted by CS-NCs at the cellular level, including their recognition and uptake, have not been fully investigated yet. Many factors, including size, shape, concentration, and surface chemistry of CS-NCs, play an important role in determining the types of intracellular signals triggered. The mechanism of uptake and the involvement of the cytoskeleton during the CS-NCs endocytosis variates among the different cell types as well as further effects observed inside cells. In the present work, we discuss the effects induced by CS-NCs per se on the cytoskeleton, a key component in cell architecture and physiology. The focus of this report is made on tumoral and normal biological models in which CS-NCs could differentially affect the cell cytoskeleton. The recent years reports regarding the impact of CS-NCs on cytoskeleton dynamics and the current techniques for its evaluation are summarized and discussed. Understanding mechanisms underlying cytoskeletal impact after cell exposure to CS-NCs is critical for the design of safest value-added formulations in the biomedical field. Furthermore, this revision points out some interesting aspects of cytoskeletal changes and cell death encompassing anti-tumoral effects.

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