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Indexed by:期刊论文

Date of Publication:2016-09-21

Journal:JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

Included Journals:SCIE、EI、Scopus

Volume:120

Issue:11

ISSN No.:0021-8979

Abstract:Although many researches have been conducted on the interaction of the cell membrane with the rigid nanoparticle (NP), relatively little is known about the interaction of the membrane with the deformable NP, which is a promising kind of drug delivery carrier. In this paper, we investigate the wrapping of a deformable NP by the membrane, with particular attention paid to the location of the NP. Phase diagrams with respect to the normalized NP-membrane adhesion strength and the bending stiffness ratio between the NP and membrane are presented. The results show that the NP is easier to be fully wrapped but harder to be shallowly wrapped when the NP locates outside than inside the vesicle. For the system with an outside NP, there are three distinct stages separated by two critical bending stiffness ratios as the NP becomes softer. Moreover, the critical normalized adhesion strength required for a deformable NP to be fully wrapped is the same as that for a rigid NP when the bending stiffness ratio is higher than a critical value, which is different from the wrapping behavior by an initially flat membrane. In addition, a larger vesicle size facilitates the full wrapping configuration when the NP is inside, whereas it prohibits it when the NP is outside. These results are consistent with the previous research and can provide guidelines for the design of drug delivery systems based on the flexibility-tunable NPs. Published by AIP Publishing.