Open AccessElectrostatic Conjugation of Nanoparticle Surfaces with Functional Peptide Motifs
Author(s) -
Natalie Boehnke,
Kate J. Dolph,
Valeria M. Juarez,
Julia M. Lanoha,
Paula T. Hammond
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bioconjugate chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.279
H-Index - 172
eISSN - 1520-4812
pISSN - 1043-1802
DOI - 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00384
Subject(s) - chemistry , surface modification , peptide , nanoparticle , covalent bond , surface charge , cationic polymerization , combinatorial chemistry , nanotechnology , fluorescence , static electricity , adsorption , biophysics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , materials science , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , biology
We report the surface functionalization of anionic layer by layer nanoparticles (LbL NPs) with cationic tumor-penetrating peptides (TPPs) via electrostatic adsorption while retaining particle stability and charge characteristics. This strategy eliminates the need for structural modifications of the peptide and enables facile functionalization of surface chemistries difficult to modify or inaccessible via covalent conjugation strategies. We show that both carboxylated and sulfated LbL NPs are able to accommodate linear and cyclic TPPs and used fluorescence-based detection assays to quantify peptide loading per NP. We also demonstrate that TPP activity is retained upon adsorption, implying sufficient numbers of peptides take on the appropriate surface orientation, enabling efficient uptake of functionalized NPs in vitro, as characterized via flow cytometry and deconvolution microscopy. Overall, we believe that this strategy will serve as a broadly applicable approach to impart electrostatically assembled NPs with bioactive peptide motifs.