Mediating Tumor Targeting Efficiency of Nanoparticles Through Design

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 9; no. 5; pp. 1909 - 1915
• Main Authors: Perrault, Steven D, Walkey, Carl, Jennings, Travis, Fischer, Hans C, Chan, Warren C. W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 13.05.2009
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Line, Tumor; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Gold - chemistry; Materials science; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Mice; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Neoplasms - metabolism; Particle Size; Permeability; Physics; Polyethylene Glycols - chemistry; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays; Ethylene oxide polymer; Nanoparticles; In vivo; Design engineering; Tumours; Surface chemistry; Chemical properties; Nanostructured materials; Physical properties
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl900031y

Here we systematically examined the effect of nanoparticle size (10−100 nm) and surface chemistry (i.e., poly(ethylene glycol)) on passive targeting of tumors in vivo. We found that the physical and chemical properties of the nanoparticles influenced their pharmacokinetic behavior, which ultimately determined their tumor accumulation capacity. Interestingly, the permeation of nanoparticles within the tumor is highly dependent on the overall size of the nanoparticle, where larger nanoparticles appear to stay near the vasculature while smaller nanoparticles rapidly diffuse throughout the tumor matrix. Our results provide design parameters for engineering nanoparticles for optimized tumor targeting of contrast agents and therapeutics.