Cholesterol Hinders the Passive Uptake of Amphiphilic Nanoparticles into Fluid Lipid Membranes.

ABSTRACT: Plasma membranes represent pharmacokinetic barriers for the passive transport of site-specific drugs within cells. When engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are considered as transmembrane drug carriers, the plasma membrane composition can affect passive NP internalization in many ways. Among these, cholesterol-regulated membrane fluidity is probably one of the most biologically relevant. Herein, we consider small (2-5 nm in core diameter) amphiphilic gold NPs capable of spontaneously and nondisruptively entering the lipid bilayer of plasma membranes. We study their incorporation into model 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine membranes with increasing cholesterol content. We combine dissipative quartz crystal microbalance experiments, atomic force microscopy, and molecular dynamics s

SUBMITTER: Canepa E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8436204 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature