CELLULAR PERMEABILITY OF ORGANOSILICA NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

Conventional cancer treatments pose a threat to healthy cells, often through toxicity, resistance, or non-specific targeting. However, nanoparticles can be used for targeted drug delivery, which can be modified with drugs, different peptides, and functional groups to achieve maximum effectiveness. In this study, the cellular permeability of organosilica nanoparticles is investigated, on the surface of which there are thiol groups and different lengths of PEG polymer namely PEG750 and PEG5000. This study also uses two bladder cancer cell lines RT112 (non-muscle invasive) and HT1376 (muscle invasive). Flow cytometric analysis showed a time dependent elevation in nanoparticle uptake. PEG750 modified-nanoparticles provided the highest levels of internalization in HT1376 cells, whereas thiolated nanoparticles lead to the highest internalization in RT112 cells. The PEG5000-coated nanoparticles were taken up least by all the cell types, possibly due to steric hindrance of longer PEG chains. These results were confirmed by confocal microscopy, with a strong intracellular accumulation of thiolated OSNs and subsequent, although delayed, uptake of PEG750 nanoparticles. Such observations highlight the significance of both nanoparticle surface chemistry and cell-specific features in designing an accurate and effective nanomedicine treatment and offer prospects in the customized design of a nanoparticle based on individual tumor profile.