Probing the intracellular fate of supramolecular nanocarriers and their cargo with FRET schemes

Ek Raj Thapaliya; Colin Fowley; Bridgeen Callan; Sicheng Tang; Yang Zhang; John F. Callan; Françisco M. Raymo

doi:10.1117/12.2269514

22 February 2017 Probing the intracellular fate of supramolecular nanocarriers and their cargo with FRET schemes

Ek Raj Thapaliya, Colin Fowley, Bridgeen Callan, Sicheng Tang, Yang Zhang, John F. Callan, Françisco M. Raymo

Proceedings Volume 10078, Colloidal Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications XII; 100781B (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2269514
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We designed a strategy to monitor self-assembling supramolecular nanocarriers and their cargo simultaneously in the intracellular space with fluorescence measurements. It is based on Fӧrster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between complementary chromophores covalently integrated in the macromolecular backbone of amphiphilic polymers and/or noncovalently encapsulated in supramolecular assemblies of the amphiphilic components. Indeed, these polymers assemble into a micelles in aqueous phase to bring energy donors and acceptors in close proximity and allow energy transfer. The resulting supramolecular assemblies maintain their integrity after travelling into the intracellular space and do not lose their molecular guests in the process. Furthermore, this mechanism can also be exploited to probe the fate of complementary nanoparticles introduced within cells in consecutive incubation steps. Efficient energy transfer occurs in the intracellular space after the sequential incubation of nanocarriers incorporating donors first and then nanoparticles containing acceptors or vice versa. The two sets of nanostructured assemblies ultimately co-localize in the cell interior to bring donors and acceptors together and enable energy transfer. Thus, this protocol is particularly valuable to monitor the transport properties of supramolecular nanocarriers inside living cells and can eventually contribute to the fundamental understating of the ability of these promising vehicles to deliver contrast agents and/or drugs intracellularly in view of possible diagnostics and/or therapeutic applications.

Citation Download Citation

Ek Raj Thapaliya, Colin Fowley, Bridgeen Callan, Sicheng Tang, Yang Zhang, John F. Callan, and Françisco M. Raymo "Probing the intracellular fate of supramolecular nanocarriers and their cargo with FRET schemes", Proc. SPIE 10078, Colloidal Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications XII, 100781B (22 February 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2269514

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available