A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Feasibility of Mechanical Extrusion to Coat Nanoparticles with Extracellular Vesicle Membranes
Authors: Van Deun J, Roux Q, Deville S, Van Acker T, Rappu P, Miinalainen I, Heino J, Vanhaecke F, De Geest BG, De Wever O, Hendrix A
Publisher: MDPI
Publication year: 2020
Journal: Cells
Journal name in source: CELLS
Journal acronym: CELLS-BASEL
Article number: ARTN 1797
Volume: 9
Issue: 8
Number of pages: 15
eISSN: 2073-4409
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9081797
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/49804649
Biomimetic functionalization to confer stealth and targeting properties to nanoparticles is a field of intense study. Extracellular vesicles (EV), sub-micron delivery vehicles for intercellular communication, have unique characteristics for drug delivery. We investigated the top-down functionalization of gold nanoparticles with extracellular vesicle membranes, including both lipids and associated membrane proteins, through mechanical extrusion. EV surface-exposed membrane proteins were confirmed to help avoid unwanted elimination by macrophages, while improving autologous uptake. EV membrane morphology, protein composition and orientation were found to be unaffected by mechanical extrusion. We implemented complementary EV characterization methods, including transmission- and immune-electron microscopy, and nanoparticle tracking analysis, to verify membrane coating, size and zeta potential of the EV membrane-cloaked nanoparticles. While successful EV membrane coating of the gold nanoparticles resulted in lower macrophage uptake, low yield was found to be a significant downside of the extrusion approach. Our data incentivize more research to leverage EV membrane biomimicking as a unique drug delivery approach in the near future.
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