Design, characterization, and intracellular trafficking of biofunctionalized chitosan nanomicelles

The hydrophobically modified glycol chitosan (HGC) nanomicelle has received increasing attention as a promising platform for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs. To improve the tumor selectivity of HGC, here an avidin and biotin functionalization strategy was applied. The hydrodynamic diameter of the biotin-avidin-functionalized HGC (cy5.5-HGC-B4F) was observed to be 104.7 nm, and the surface charge was +3.1 mV. Confocal and structured illumination microscopy showed that at 0.1 mg/ml, cy5.5-HGC-B4F nanomicelles were distributed throughout the cytoplasm of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells after 2 h of exposure without significant cytotoxicity. To better understand the intracellular fate of the nanomicelles, entrapment studies were performed and demonstrated that some cy5.5-HGC-B4F nanomicelles were capable of escaping endocytic vesicles, likely via the proton sponge effect. Quantitative analysis of the movements of endosomes in living cells revealed that the addition of HGC greatly enhanced the motility of endosomal compartments, and the nanomicelles were transported by early and late endosomes from cell periphery to the perinuclear region. Our results validate the importance of using live-cell imaging to quantitatively assess the dynamics and mechanisms underlying the complex endocytic pathways of nanosized drug carriers.