{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T21:14:40Z","timestamp":1768511680875,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,19]],"date-time":"2019-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1571443200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, Ministry of Science and Education (FCT\/MEC)","award":["M-ERA-NET\/0004\/2015 (PAIRED) and UID\/AGR\/04033\/2019 (CITAB)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["M-ERA-NET\/0004\/2015 (PAIRED) and UID\/AGR\/04033\/2019 (CITAB)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The surface properties of nanoparticles have decisive influence on their interaction with biological barriers (i.e., living cells), being the concentration and type of surfactant factors to have into account. As a result of different molecular structure, charge, and degree of lipophilicity, different surfactants may interact differently with the cell membrane exhibiting different degrees of cytotoxicity. In this work, the cytotoxicity of two cationic solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), differing in the cationic lipids used as surfactants CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) or DDAB (dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide), referred as CTAB-SLNs and DDAB-SLNs, respectively, was assessed against five different human cell lines (Caco-2, HepG2, MCF-7, SV-80, and Y-79). Results showed that the cationic lipids used in SLN production highly influenced the cytotoxic profile of the particles, with CTAB-SLNs being highly cytotoxic even at low concentrations (IC50 &lt; 10 \u00b5g\/mL, expressed as CTAB amount). DDAB-SLNs produced much lower cytotoxicity, even at longer exposure time (IC50 from 284.06 \u00b1 17.01 \u00b5g\/mL (SV-80) to 869.88 \u00b1 62.45 \u00b5g\/mL (MCF-7), at 48 h). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that compares the cytotoxic profile of CTAB-SLNs and DDAB-SLNs based on the concentration and time of exposure, using different cell lines. In conclusion, the choice of the right surfactant for biological applications influences the biocompatibility of the nanoparticles. Regardless the type of drug delivery system, not only the cytotoxicity of the drug-loaded nanoparticles should be assessed, but also the blank (non-loaded) nanoparticles as their surface properties play a decisive role both in vitro and in vivo.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app9204438","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,21]],"date-time":"2019-10-21T03:40:29Z","timestamp":1571629229000},"page":"4438","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":67,"title":["Soft Cationic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery: Production and Cytotoxicity of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7524-9914","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Am\u00e9lia","family":"Silva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology and Environment, University of Tr\u00e1s-os Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1564-3661","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos","family":"Martins-Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology and Environment, University of Tr\u00e1s-os Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6533-6205","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tiago","family":"Coutinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology and Environment, University of Tr\u00e1s-os Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Joana","family":"Fangueiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (FFUC), P\u00f3lo das Ci\u00eancias da Sa\u00fade, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2571-108X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elena","family":"Sanchez-Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Ave. Joan XXIII s\/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2001-1570","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tatiana","family":"Pashirova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"A.E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Arbuzov str. 8, 420088 Kazan, Russia"}]},{"given":"Tatiana","family":"Andreani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"CIQUP\u2014Research Center in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Porto University, Rua do Campo Alegre, s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9737-6017","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eliana","family":"Souto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (FFUC), P\u00f3lo das Ci\u00eancias da Sa\u00fade, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CEB\u2014Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.2174\/157016311796799062","article-title":"20 Years of Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN & NLC): Present State of Development & Industrial Applications","volume":"8","author":"Muller","year":"2011","journal-title":"Curr. 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