Effects of the Microparticle Shape on Cellular Uptake

Abstract

Physical forms of microparticles and nanoparticles, such as the size, charge, and shape, are known to affect endocytosis. Improving the physical designs of the drug carriers can increase the drug uptake efficiency and the subsequent drug efficacy. Simple shapes, such as sphere and cylinder, have been studied for their ability for endocytosis. To have a better understanding of the shape effect on cellular uptake, different particle shapes were prepared, using the keyboard character shapes, and their impacts on cellular uptake were examined. The results showed that shapes with higher aspect ratio and sharper angular features have a higher chance of adhering to the cells and become internalized by the cancer cells. The local interaction between the cell membrane and the part of the microparticle in contact with the cell membrane also plays a crucial role in determining the outcome.

Adaptive Polymersome and Micelle Morphologies in Anticancer Nanomedicine: From Design Rationale to Fabrication and Proof‐of‐Concept Studies

“…[58][59][60][61] For the effect of morphology, it seemed that the local geometry, local curvature, and mean curvature, of particles in contact with the cell affect the endocytosis efficiency. [64] The sharper objects seemed to enable the cells to recruit more actin filaments and attach and engulf the objects than those without sharp features. In contrast, shapes without sharp features, such as the letters D, G, O, and the number 0, were unable to attach or penetrate the cells.…”

“…Shapes with higher aspect ratios could be internalized by the cells faster than those of lower aspect ratios, [44] which might be due to their larger surface area that enhances the interaction with cell membranes. The internalization happened within approximately 80 min and was completed after 2-3 h. [64] Stenzel et al reported that fructose-based cylindrical micelles with smaller aspect ratios were internalized by cells significantly more and faster than medium and long ones by breast cancer cells in 2D and 3D tumor spheroids models. For other nanoparticles, high aspect ratios seemed to reduce internalization and prolong the blood circulation time and cell targeting capability.…”

Current Challenges toward In Vitro Cellular Validation of Inorganic Nanoparticles

“…61−65 For example, it is well-known that protein binding to NPs may affect their overall size and charge, and situations in which NPs must cross physical barriers such as the blood-brain barrier or the blood vessel endothelium to enter tumors, must be carefully considered. Protein corona formation depends on the nature of the NPs (composition and physicochemical properties), their surface coating and their route of administration into the body or onto a cell culture.…”

Efficient delivery of Notch1 siRNA to SKOV3 cells by cationic cholesterol derivative-based liposome

“…34,35 It has been reported that gene/cationic polymer complexes with positive charge and particle sizes of fifty to several hundred nanometers would be suitable for the endocytosis of complexes and for superior gene delivery. 36 The zeta potentials and particle sizes of the prepared siRNA/ DMAPA-chems complexes (N/P .20) were in the range of +40 to +50 mV and 100-200 nm, respectively.…”