Nanoparticles Shaped Like Rods & Worms Enter Cell Nucleus More Easily

Nanoparticles shaped like rods and worms are most effective at broaching the barrier surrounding the cell nucleus, a study has shown.

AsianScientist (Sep. 22, 2016) – When it comes to delivering drugs, nanoparticles shaped like rods and worms are the best bet for making the daunting journey to the center of a cell, research published in Nature Nanotechnology suggests.

Lead author Dr. Elizabeth Hinde of the University of New South Wales said that researchers could previously see the overall distribution of their nanoparticles throughout a cell, but didn’t have the microscopy tools to understand how this localization was set up—a key limitation in drug delivery research.

“We were able to show for the first time that nanoparticles shaped like rods and worms were more effective than spherical nanoparticles at traversing intracellular barriers and this enabled them to get all the way into the nucleus of the cell,” said Hinde.

The team applied a new microscopy method to track the movement of differently-shaped nanoparticles through a single cultured cancer cell. Using this method, the researchers were able to pinpoint where drugs were being released, and how they spread throughout the cell. They found that the cancer drug, doxorubicin, was most effective when it could breach the strong yet porous cellular barrier protecting the nucleus, the cell’s control center.

Importantly, they discovered that a nanoparticle’s shape influenced how well the drug breached the barrier. While the spherical particles were blocked by the nuclear envelope, the rod and worm-shaped particles were able to pass through. This differential uptake provides a pathway for the development of particles that can selectively target and kill cancer cells, without hurting healthy ones.

“Cancer cells have different internal architecture than healthy cells. If we can fine-tune the dimensions of these rod-shaped nanoparticles, so they only pass through the cellular barriers in cancer cells and not healthy ones, we can reduce some of the side effects of chemotherapies,” Hinde said.

Through future collaborations, the researchers hope to create virtual reality renderings of the insides of human cells and blood vessels.


The article can be found at: Hinde et al. (2016) Pair Correlation Microscopy Reveals the Role of Nanoparticle Shape in Intracellular Transport and Site of Drug Release.

———

Source: University of New South Wales; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Asian Scientist Magazine is an award-winning science and technology magazine that highlights R&D news stories from Asia to a global audience. The magazine is published by Singapore-headquartered Wildtype Media Group.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist