Stephanie E. A. Gratton1, Patricia A. Ropp2, Patrick D. Pohlhaus2, J. Christopher Luft2,3, Victoria J. Madden4,5, Mary E. Napier2, Joseph M. DeSimone6,5,7
1Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
2Departments of *Chemistry and Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence,
3Pharmacy,
4University of North Carolina
5Pathology, and
6Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
7Pharmacology and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; and
Tóm tắt
The interaction of particles with cells is known to be strongly influenced by particle size, but little is known about the interdependent role that size, shape, and surface chemistry have on cellular internalization and intracellular trafficking. We report on the internalization of specially designed, monodisperse hydrogel particles into HeLa cells as a function of size, shape, and surface charge. We employ a top-down particle fabrication technique called PRINT that is able to generate uniform populations of organic micro- and nanoparticles with complete control of size, shape, and surface chemistry. Evidence of particle internalization was obtained by using conventional biological techniques and transmission electron microscopy. These findings suggest that HeLa cells readily internalize nonspherical particles with dimensions as large as 3 μm by using several different mechanisms of endocytosis. Moreover, it was found that rod-like particles enjoy an appreciable advantage when it comes to internalization rates, reminiscent of the advantage that many rod-like bacteria have for internalization in nonphagocytic cells.
