Association Mechanism of Peptide-Coated Metal Nanoparticles with Model Membranes: A Coarse-Grained Study.

ABSTRACT: Functionalized metal nanoparticles (NPs) hold great promise as innovative tools in nanomedicine. However, one of the main challenges is how to optimize their association with the cell membrane, which is critical for their effective delivery. Recent findings show high cellular uptake rates for NPs coated with the polycationic cell-penetrating peptide gH625-644 (gH), although the underlying internalization mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we use extended coarse-grained simulations and free energy calculations to study systems that simultaneously include metal NPs, peptides, lipids, and sterols. In particular, we investigate the first encounter between multicomponent model membranes and 2.5 nm metal NPs coated with gH (gHNPs), based on the evidence from scanning transmission electron mic

SUBMITTER: Franco-Ulloa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8280734 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature