Nanomotor-Enabled pH-Responsive Intracellular Delivery of Caspase-3: Toward Rapid Cell Apoptosis.

ABSTRACT: Direct and efficient intracellular delivery of enzymes to cytosol holds tremendous therapeutic potential while remaining an unmet technical challenge. Herein, an ultrasound (US)-propelled nanomotor approach and a high-pH-responsive delivery strategy are reported to overcome this challenge using caspase-3 (CASP-3) as a model enzyme. Consisting of a gold nanowire (AuNW) motor with a pH-responsive polymer coating, in which the CASP-3 is loaded, the resulting nanomotor protects the enzyme from release and deactivation prior to reaching an intracellular environment. However, upon entering a cell and exposure to the higher intracellular pH, the polymer coating is dissolved, thereby directly releasing the active CASP-3 enzyme to the cytosol and causing rapid cell apoptosis. In vitro studies using

SUBMITTER: Esteban-Fernandez de Avila B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5894870 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature