SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 11: Poster Session I
BP 11.15: Poster
Dienstag, 28. März 2023, 12:30–15:30, P1
Investigations of the Fusion Process of Lipid-Based Nanoparticles with Model Endosomal Membranes Using Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations — •Thomas Kolbe1, Friederike Schmid1, and Giovanni Settanni1,2 — 1Physics Department, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz — 2Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Ruhr University Bochum
Lipid based nanoparticles have proven to be viable choices for the delivery of genetic material inside a living organism. Compared to the more traditionally used non-pathogenic viruses they attract through potentially much lower costs and milder effects on the immune system. Yet, the exact mechanisms of the endosomal escape - the process with which the delivered drug enters the cell - requires more thorough examination. We simulate the related fusion of a DNA-lipid based nanoparticle with a model endosomal membrane, using coarse-grained molecular dynamics to gain more insights into the underlying processes. By modeling the drop of the system's pH in the various stages of the endosome with different degrees of ionization in our nanoparticle, we can see that the better part of transfections happen at a late stage, confirming that cationic lipids are a main driver of the transfection process. Further, we observe that the size and structure of the nanoparticles have substantial influence on the transfection efficiency.