Synthesis, self-assembly, and in vitro toxicity of fatty acids-modified Bletilla striata polysaccharide

Abstract

Hydrophobic modification of Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) was performed by grafting fatty acids to BSP backbone and then characterized on their physicochemical properties. All neutral derivatives were able to self-assemble into spherical particles within the size range of 250–400 nm, their size and critical micelle concentration decreased with increasing hydrophobicity and substitution degree of the fatty acids. Also, the BSP-stearic acid conjugates showed a preferable performance on hemolysis test and cytotoxicity analysis on HepG2 cells, which suggested their potential application as a drug delivery vector.

Keywords:

• Bletilla striata
• glucomannan
• hemolysis
• HepG2 cells
• hydrophobic modification
• nanoparticles

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81160521).