Understanding of direct permeation of a nanoparticle across the cell membrane under an external electric field and its control

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K21292
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Properties in chemical engineering process/Transfer operation/Unit operation; Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering
• Research Institution: Osaka Prefecture University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Hideya 大阪府立大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (00584426)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ナノ粒子 / 細胞膜 / 細胞膜透過 / 分子動力学計算

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been attracting much attention for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. In most of the applications, NPs are required to translocate across the cell membrane and to reach the cell cytosol. Understanding of the mechanism underlying the direct permeation of NPs under an external electric field can greatly contribute to the realization of a technology for the direct delivery of NPs. Here we investigated the permeation of a cationic gold NP across a phospholipid bilayer under an external electric field using a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation. When a specific range of the electric field that is lower than the membrane breakdown intensity was applied, a unique permeation pathway was exhibited: the generated transmembrane pore immediately resealed after the direct permeation of NP. Our finding suggests that by applying an electric field in a suitable range NPs can be directly delivered into the cell with less cellular damage.

Free Research Field

化学工学