Cell membrane coated biomimetic nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely studied in nanomedicine because of their unique properties such long blood circulation, specific molecular recognition, and efficient cancer targeting, indicating a great potential in targeted cancer therapy. However, the integrity of the cell membrane coating on NPs, a key metric related to the quality of these biomimetic-systems and to the resulting biomedical function, has remained largely unexplored.
Now researchers at the University of Eastern Finland report the development of a fluorescence quenching assay to probe the integrity of the cell membrane coating. Their study (“Cell membrane coating integrity affects the internalization mechanism of biomimetic nanoparticles”), published in Nature Communications, shows that the great majority of the cell membrane coated NPs were only partially coated when traditional coating techniques were applied. The scientists, who carried out their work in the department of applied physics under the direction of Vesa-Pekka Lehto, PhD, says that this information is essential as the coating degree impacts the biological fate of NPs.
“Here, we report a fluorescence quenching assay to probe the integrity of cell membrane coating. In contradiction to the common assumption of perfect coating, we uncover that up to 90% of the biomimetic NPs are only partially coated. Using in vitro homologous targeting studies, we demonstrate that partially coated NPs could still be internalized by the target cells,” write the investigators.
Date: 25 Sep
Source: https://www.genengnews.com/news/biomimetic-nanoparticles-for-targeted-cancer-therapy/
