Erik Johnsson School of Engineering & Computer Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2011 Jan;236(1):20-9. doi: 10.1258/ebm.2010.010243.
Size and shape are fundamental properties of micro/nanoparticles that are critically important for nanomedicine applications. Extensive studies have revealed the effect of particle size on spherical particles with respect to circulation, extravasation and distribution in vivo. In contrast, the importance of particle shape has only recently begun to emerge. For example, cylindrically-shaped filomicelles (diameter 22-60 nm, length 8-18 μm) have shown persistent blood circulation for up to one week after intravenous injection, much longer than their spherical counterparts. Disc-shaped nanoparticles have demonstrated higher in vivo targeting specificity to endothelial cells expressing intercellular adhesion molecule receptors in mice than spherical particles of similar size. In this Minireview, we will discuss the recent advances in the fabrication of shape-specific nanoparticles and their unique biological and pharmacological properties. Computational models are presented to provide mechanistic understanding of the shape effects on cell targeting under flow conditions. Shape-specific nanoparticles have the potential to significantly improve the performance of nanomedicine in diagnostic imaging and targeted drug delivery applications.
尺寸和形状是微/纳米粒子的基本性质，对于纳米医学应用至关重要。大量研究揭示了粒子尺寸对球形粒子在体内的循环、渗出和分布的影响。相比之下，粒子形状的重要性直到最近才开始显现。例如，圆柱形的filomicelles（直径 22-60nm，长度 8-18μm）在静脉注射后长达一周的时间内保持持久的血液循环，比其球形对应物长得多。盘状纳米粒子在表达细胞间黏附分子受体的内皮细胞中的体内靶向特异性方面优于具有相似尺寸的球形粒子。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论制备具有特定形状的纳米粒子及其独特的生物学和药理学特性的最新进展。提出了计算模型，以提供在流动条件下对细胞靶向的形状效应的机械理解。具有特定形状的纳米粒子有可能显著提高纳米医学在诊断成像和靶向药物输送应用中的性能。
