N-(levodopa) chitosan derivative based on click chemistry shows biological functionality in brain cells.

Objective: To develop N-(levodopa) chitosan derivatives through click chemistry to study their effect in brain cells. This study presents a proof-of-concept that macromolecules such as N-(Levodopa) chitosan derivatives traverse brain cell membranes and induce biomedical functionalities.

Methods: Through click chemistry, we developed N-(levodopa) chitosan derivatives. They were physically and chemically characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, TGA and Dynamic Light Scattering analyses. Solution and nanoparticles of N-(levodopa) chitosan derivatives were tested in primary cell cultures from the postnatal rat olfactory bulb, substantia nigra and corpus callosum. Ca imaging and UPLC experiments were used to investigate if the biomaterial modulated the brain cell physiology.

Results: N-(levodopa) chitosan derivatives induced intracellular Ca responses in primary cell cultures of the rat brain. UPLC experiments indicated that levodopa attached to chitosan was converted into dopamine by brain cells.

Conclusion: The present study shows that N-(levodopa) chitosan may be useful to develop new treatment strategies, which could serve as molecular reservoirs of biomedical drugs to treat degenerative disorders of the nervous system.