Evaluation of the antiproliferative and oxidative effects of HEMA based polymeric cryogels including N-vinyl formamide on the model eukaryotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Here, the effects of previously characterized poly(HEMA-N-vinyl formamide) (PHEMA-NVF) cryogels on viability, surface morphology, total antioxidant-oxidant status, antioxidant enzyme activities, and biochemical makeup of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were investigated for the first time. The cells' viability from the PHEMA-NVF cryogels exhibited a significant drop of 23.96 ± 1.44% compared to the plain PHEMA cryogel, which served as the control group without NVF. Additionally, this cryogel caused blebbing and holes on the cell surface. Despite the gradual increase in TOS levels with increasing NVF amounts, only the cryogel containing 3.12 mmol NVF showed a statistically significant difference from the control. The gradual increases in TAS levels in response to cellular stress were recorded depending on the increase in NVF amounts up to 3.12 mmol. While the enzymatic antioxidant system was generally induced in cells released from the cryogel prepared with relatively low levels of NVF, these activities dramatically decreased at higher amounts of the comonomer. Finally, FTIR analysis revealed that the highest concentration of NVF caused protein degradation and increased the relative concentration of lipid and polysaccharide molecules. Therefore, we can suggest that this comonomer induces oxidative stress, which the cell cannot tolerate beyond a certain threshold.

Graphical Abstract