Microfluidic Synthesis of Hybrid Nanoparticles with Controlled Lipid Layers: Understanding Flexibility-Regulated Cell-Nanoparticle Interaction

L Zhang and Q Feng and JL Wang and S Zhang and BQ Ding and YJ Wei and MD Dong and JY Ryu and TY Yoon and XH Shi and JS Sun and XY Jiang, ACS NANO, 9, 9912-9921 (2015).

DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b05792

The functionalized lipid shell of hybrid nanoparticles plays an important role for improving their biocompatibility and in vivo stability. Yet few efforts have been made to critically examine the shell structure of nanoparticles and its effect on cell particle interaction. Here we develop a microfluidic chip allowing for the synthesis of structurally well-defined lipid-polymer nanoparticles of the same sizes, but covered with either lipid-monolayer-shell (MPs, monolayer nanoparticles) or lipid-bilayer-shell (BPs, bilayer nanoparticles). Atomic force microscope and atomistic simulations reveal that MPs have a lower flexibility than BPs, resulting in a more efficient cellular uptake and thus anticancer effect than BPs do. This flexibility-regulated cell particle interaction may have important implications for designing drug nanocarriers.

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