Exploring the cell uptake mechanism of phospholipid and polyethylene glycol coated gold nanoparticles.
Recently, there has been a lot of interest in using gold nanoparticles (GNPs) for biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility. To increase GNP cell uptake and circulation half-life, and to improve its bio-distribution in vivo, we chose to coat GNPs with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'-rac-glycerol) (sodium salt) (POPG) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Two different methods were used to synthesize POPG-GNPs or PEG-GNPs, but the resulting nanoparticle sizes and morphologies were similar. Under the same incubation conditions, POPG-GNPs can be uptaken quicker than PEG-GNPs by cells-specifically, the maximum uptake was 8 h versus 16 h after incubation. In addition, the uptake amount of POPG-GNPs was more than that of PEG-GNPs. The uptake processes were confirmed by SEM and TEM images. The main reason for the greater uptake of POPG-GNPs can be attributed to the structural similarities between the POPG coating and the cell membrane as well as GNP aggregation.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Yuzhi
Y
Hao
Xiaoyang
X
Yang
Steven
S
Song
Min
M
Huang
Chuan
C
He
Mingyang
M
Cui
Jie
J
Chen
D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010715:Phosphatidylglycerols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
D010715:Phosphatidylglycerols; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D006046:Gold; C060037:1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylglycero-3-phosphoglycerol