Insertion of short amino-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes into phospholipid bilayer occurs by passive diffusion. - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue PLoS ONE Année : 2012

Insertion of short amino-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes into phospholipid bilayer occurs by passive diffusion.

Résumé

Carbon nanotubes have been proposed to be efficient nanovectors able to deliver genetic or therapeutic cargo into living cells. However, a direct evidence of the molecular mechanism of their translocation across cell membranes is still needed. Here, we report on an extensive computational study of short (5 nm length) pristine and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes uptake by phospholipid bilayer models using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Our data support the hypothesis of a direct translocation of the nanotubes through the phospholipid membrane. We find that insertion of neat nanotubes within the bilayer is a "nanoneedle" like process, which can often be divided in three consecutive steps: landing and floating, penetration of the lipid headgroup area and finally sliding into the membrane core. The presence of functional groups at moderate concentrations does not modify the overall scheme of diffusion mechanism, provided that their deprotonated state favors translocation through the lipid bilayer.

Dates et versions

hal-00741382 , version 1 (12-10-2012)

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Sebastian Kraszewski, Alberto Bianco, Mounir Tarek, Christophe Ramseyer. Insertion of short amino-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes into phospholipid bilayer occurs by passive diffusion.. PLoS ONE, 2012, 7 (7), pp.e40703. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0040703⟩. ⟨hal-00741382⟩
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