Cellular uptake and trafficking of nanoparticles

Nanosized materials have received increased interest as potential drug carriers for targeted therapies in nanomedicine. They have unique capacity of interacting with the cellular machinery by entering the cells using cellular... [ view full abstract ]

Nanosized materials have received increased interest as potential drug carriers for targeted therapies in nanomedicine. They have unique capacity of interacting with the cellular machinery by entering the cells using cellular pathways, as opposed to many common small drugs that simply diffuse and partition inside cells according to their solubility. Although research on the use of nanocarriers for drug delivery has increased exponentially in the last decades, in many cases still little is known about the molecular details of the interactions of nanosized materials, such as nanoparticles (NPs), with cells and their trafficking into subcellular structures. Thus, in this study we focus on the mechanisms by which different cells internalize and process NPs. We start from NP physico-chemical characterization and flow cytometry to quantify uptake and understand the basic mechanisms by which cells process nanomaterials. Further, we employ live-cell fluorescence microscopy to track NPs passing through endocytic compartments, and determine their colocalization with labelled proteins or organelles and final distribution within the cells. Overall, by tracking of NPs in live cells to characterize the mechanisms cells use to internalize and process them will greatly enhance the understanding of the mechanism of drug delivery at the molecular level and accelerate the clinical translation of nanomedicine.