A synthetic getaway biomimetic strategy for cytoplasm particle invasion

Nerea Iturrioz-Rodriguez, Elena González-Domínguez, Eloísa González-Lavado, Laura Marín-Caba, Belén Vaz, Moisés Pérez-Lorenzo, Miguel A. Correa-Duarte, and Mónica L. Fanarraga

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 13736‒13740

The translocation of nanomaterials or complex delivery systems into the cytosol is a main challenge in nanobiotechnology. After receptor-mediated endocytosis, most nanomaterials are sequestered undergoing degradation, therapy inactivation or exocytosis. Here we explore a novel surface particle-coating made of adsorbed carbon nanotubes that provides coated materials with new properties that reproduce the viral cell invasive mechanisms, namely: receptor mediated endocytosis, endo-lysosomal escape and cytosolic particle release preserving intact cell viability. This novel biomimetic coating design will enable the intracytoplasmic delivery of many different functional materials endowed with therapeutic, magnetic, optical or catalytic functionalities thus, opening the door to a wide array of chemical and physical processes within the cytosolic or nuclear domains, and supporting the generation of new developments in the biotechnological, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.