Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, Mainz, 55128, Germany.
Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, Leiden, 2333 CC, The Netherlands.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2022 Jun;43(12):e2100892. doi: 10.1002/marc.202100892. Epub 2022 Mar 7.
The use of nanoparticles as carriers is an extremely promising way for administration of therapeutic agents, such as drug molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids. Such nanocarriers (NCs) can increase the solubility of hydrophobic compounds, protect their cargo from the environment, and if properly functionalized, deliver it to specific target cells and tissues. Polymer-based NCs are especially promising, because they offer high degree of versatility and tunability. However, in order to get a full advantage of this therapeutic approach and develop efficient delivery systems, a careful characterization of the NCs is needed. This review highlights the fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) technique as a powerful and versatile tool for NCs characterization at all stages of the drug delivery process. In particular, FCS can monitor and quantify the size of the NCs and the drug loading efficiency after preparation, the NCs stability and possible interactions with, e.g., plasma proteins in the blood stream and the kinetic of drug release in the cytoplasm of the target cells.
纳米粒子作为载体的应用是一种极具前景的治疗剂给药方式，例如药物分子、蛋白质和核酸。这些纳米载体 (NCs) 可以增加疏水性化合物的溶解度，保护其货物免受环境影响，并且如果经过适当的功能化处理，可以将其递送到特定的靶细胞和组织。基于聚合物的 NCs 尤其有前途，因为它们提供了高度的多功能性和可调节性。然而，为了充分利用这种治疗方法并开发高效的递药系统，需要对 NCs 进行仔细的表征。本综述强调荧光相关光谱 (FCS) 技术作为一种强大而多功能的工具，可用于在药物递药过程的各个阶段对 NCs 进行表征。特别是，FCS 可以监测和量化 NCs 的大小和药物载药效率，以及 NCs 的稳定性和可能与血液中的血浆蛋白等的相互作用，以及在靶细胞细胞质中的药物释放动力学。
