Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Nature Research, Scientific Reports, 1(11), 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00817-2

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Improving the self-assembly of bioresponsive nanocarriers by engineering doped nanocarbons: a computational atomistic insight

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractHere, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to explore the self-assembly of polymers and docetaxel (DTX) as an anticancer drug in the presence of nitrogen, phosphorous, and boron-nitrogen incorporated graphene and fullerene. The electrostatic potential and the Gibbs free energy of the self-assembled materials were used to optimize the atomic doping percentage of the N- and P-doped formulations at 10% and 50%, respectively. Poly lactic-glycolic acid (PLGA)- polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based polymeric nanoparticles were assembled in the presence of nanocarbons in the common (corresponding to the bulk environment) and interface of organic/aqueous solutions (corresponding to the microfluidic environment). Assessment of the modeling results (e.g., size, hydrophobicity, and energy) indicated that among the nanocarbons, the N-doped graphene nanosheet in the interface method created more stable polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs). Energy analysis demonstrated that doping with nanocarbons increased the electrostatic interaction energy in the self-assembly process. On the other hand, the fullerene-based nanocarbons promoted van der Waals intramolecular interactions in the PNPs. Next, the selected N-doped graphene nanosheet was utilized to prepare nanoparticles and explore the physicochemical properties of the nanosheets in the permeation of the resultant nanoparticles through cell-based lipid bilayer membranes. In agreement with the previous results, the N-graphene assisted PNP in the interface method and was translocated into and through the cell membrane with more stable interactions. In summary, the present MD simulation results demonstrated the success of 2D graphene dopants in the nucleation and growth of PLGA-based nanoparticles for improving anticancer drug delivery to cells, establishing new promising materials and a way to assess their performance that should be further studied.