Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2025

Manufacture and Drug Delivery Applications of Silk Nanoparticles
Published on: October 8, 2016
Smart design of universally decorated nanoparticles for drug delivery applications driven by active transport
Gal Halbi1, Itay Fayer2, Dina Aranovich1
1The Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84105, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Abstract:
Targeting the cell nucleus remains a challenge for drug delivery. Here, we present a universal platform for the smart design of nanoparticle (NP) decoration that is based on: (i) a spacer polymer, commonly biotin-polyethylene-glycol-thiol, whose grafting density and molecular weight can be tuned for optimized performance, and (ii) protein binding peptides, such as cell penetrating peptides (CPPs), cancer-targeting peptides, or nuclear localization signal (NLS) peptides, that are linked to the PEG free-end by universal chemistry. We manifested our platform with two different bromo-acetamide (Br-Ac) modified NLSs. We used cell extract-based and live cell assays to demonstrate the recruitment of dynein motor proteins, which drive the NP active transport toward the nucleus, and the enhancement of cellular and nuclear entry, manifesting the properties of NLS as a CPP. Our control of the NP decoration scheme, and the modularity of our platform, carry great advantages for nano-carrier design for drug delivery applications.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport
Facilitated diffusion is a passive process that utilizes human Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters. These transporters bind to the drug, undergo structural...
Carrier-Mediated Transport
Active transport involves two types of membrane-spanning transporters: uptake and efflux. Uptake transporters are expressed in the small...
Mechanisms of Drug Absorption: Paracellular, Transcellular, and Vesicular Transport
However, most drugs use the transcellular route, traversing directly through the cell membranes via two mechanisms: passive and active transport. Passive...
Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
Facilitated Diffusion
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...

