Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
ACS Nano. 2013 Dec 23;7(12):10646-53. doi: 10.1021/nn4033344. Epub 2013 Nov 25.
Wrapping dendrimer-like soft nanoparticles by cell membrane is an essential event in their endocytosis in drug and gene delivery, but this process remains poorly elucidated. Using computer simulations and theoretical analysis, we report the detailed dynamics of the process in which a lipid bilayer membrane fully wraps a dendrimer-like soft nanoparticle. By constructing a phase diagram, we firstly demonstrate that there exist three states in the interaction between a dendrimer and a lipid bilayer membrane, i.e., penetration, penetration and partial wrapping, and full wrapping states. The wrapping process of dendrimer-like nanoparticles is found to take a unique approach where the penetration of the dendrimer into the membrane plays a significant role. The analysis of various energies within the system provides a theoretical justification to the state transition observed from simulations. The findings also support recent experimental results and provide a theoretical explanation for them. We expect that these findings are of immediate interest to the study of the cellular uptake of dendrimer-like soft nanoparticles and can prompt the further application of this class of nanoparticles in nanomedicine.
通过细胞膜包裹树状大分子样软纳米颗粒是其在药物和基因传递中内吞作用的一个基本过程，但这一过程仍未得到充分阐明。本研究采用计算机模拟和理论分析，报告了脂质双层膜完全包裹树状大分子样软纳米颗粒过程的详细动力学。通过构建相图，我们首先证明了树突状大分子与脂质双层膜之间存在三种相互作用状态，即穿透、穿透和部分包裹以及完全包裹状态。研究发现，树状大分子样纳米颗粒的包裹过程采用一种独特的方式，其中树突状大分子进入膜内发挥了重要作用。对系统内各种能量的分析为从模拟中观察到的状态转变提供了理论依据。这些发现也支持了最近的实验结果，并为它们提供了理论解释。我们期望这些发现能立即引起人们对树状大分子样软纳米颗粒细胞摄取的研究兴趣，并能进一步推动这类纳米颗粒在纳米医学中的应用。
