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Published on: November 1, 2017
Intraluminal Gold Nanoparticle-Loaded Liposomes Enable High-Resolution Nanoscale Mapping of Intracellular Delivery
Filippo Testa1, Andrea Banfi1, Marco Giustra1,2
1NanoBioLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, Milano 20126, Italy.
ACS Applied Nano Materials
|August 5, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed Lipo-Gold, a novel hybrid nanosystem using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) within liposomes. This tool enables nanoscale visualization of lipid nanocarrier intracellular delivery, crucial for advancing nucleic acid and protein therapies.
Area of Science:
- Nanomedicine
- Cellular Biology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Lipid nanocarriers are vital for drug delivery but challenging to visualize inside cells due to low electron density and dynamic structures.
- Directly observing intracellular trafficking of liposomes is difficult, hindering the optimization of nucleic acid and protein therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a hybrid nanosystem, Lipo-Gold, for nanoscale-resolution investigation of intracellular delivery pathways.
- To create liposomes containing multiple intraluminal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) without compromising their biological properties or cellular interactions.
Main Methods:
- Generated Lipo-Gold using a stepwise in situ reduction strategy for cholesterol-containing liposomes.
- Characterized Lipo-Gold physicochemical properties (DLS, NTA, TEM) and cellular uptake (flow cytometry, confocal microscopy).
- Utilized correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) for multimodal imaging with nanometric resolution.
Main Results:
- Lipo-Gold retained the physicochemical properties and cellular interaction profile of unmodified liposomes.
- Intraluminal AuNPs provided strong electron contrast for visualizing nanoscale intracellular transport events (uptake, maturation, confinement).
- AuNPs remained confined within endosomal compartments, showing no cytosolic dispersion, consistent with liposome behavior.
Conclusions:
- Lipo-Gold serves as a valuable tool for studying intracellular delivery barriers at the nanoscale.
- This hybrid nanosystem aids in the rational development of advanced lipid-based therapeutics by preserving native liposome-cell interactions and enabling high-resolution imaging.
