Predicting Nanoparticle Uptake by Biological Membranes: Theory and Simulation

We describe a new approach which predicts the level of internalisation or complete wrapping of nanoparticles by liposomes in solution. It is based on a generalisation of elastic theory to nanoscale particles with physical property data obtained from atomistic and coarse-grained simulations. We apply this approach to determine the maximum number of nanoparticles of a given type that can be internalised by a given liposome and give examples of how our approach might be used to identify and/or design nanoparticles with different uptakes: New data that could be correlated with nanoparticle toxicity experiments . We briefly discuss the possibility of designing nanoscale separations process.