title: Polymer nanoneedle-mediated intracellular drug delivery.
abstract: Delivery of drugs into the cellular cytoplasm of target cells represents a major hurdle in treating various diseases. This challenge can be addressed by encapsulation of drugs onto or within nanoparticles, which can then be targeted to diseased cells. Here, needle-shaped particles are shown to exhibit substantially higher cytoplasmic delivery of drugs such as siRNA compared to their spherical counterparts. Furthermore, these needles are designed to lose their sharp tips over time and can render themselves ineffective over time, thereby offering control over their duration of activity and toxicity. Such polymer nanoneedles open new avenues for delivering drug molecules directly into the cytoplasm with low toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Poornima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kolhar
authors.forename: Nishit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Doshi
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitragotri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002460:Cell Line; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D004705:Endocytosis; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000737:chemistry*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid