Cellular uptake of active nonspherical nanoparticles

Abstract

Due to the potential applications in biomedical engineering, it becomes more and more important to understand the process of engulfment and internalization of nanoparticles (NPs) by cell membranes. Despite the fact that the interaction between cell membranes and passive particles has been widely studied, the interaction between cell membranes and self-propelled nonspherical NPs remains to be elucidated. Here we present a theoretical model to systematically investigate the influence of the active force, aspect ratio of NPs, particle size and membrane properties (adhesion energy density and membrane tension) on the cellular uptake of a nonspherical nanoparticle. It is found that the active force generated by an NP can trigger a type of first-order wrapping transition from a small partial wrapping state to a large one. In addition, the phase diagram in the force-aspect ratio (particle size, adhesion energy density and membrane tension) space displays more complex behaviors compared with that for the passive wrapping mediated merely by adhesion. These results may provide a useful guidance to the study of activity-driven cellular entry of active particles into cells.