High-Order Assembly toward Polysaccharide-Based Complex Coacervate Nanodroplets Capable of Targeting Cancer Cells

Langmuir. 2020 Jul 28;36(29):8580-8588. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c01458. Epub 2020 Jul 15.

Abstract

High-order assembly plays a significant role in the formation of living organisms containing a large number of biomacromolecules and, thus, enlightens the construction of nanomaterials that can load macromolecular payloads at a high efficiency. Herein, by choosing anionic hyaluronic acid (HA) as a model payload, we demonstrated how the electrostatic-interaction-induced high-order assembly can be used to load efficiently biomacromolecules into complex coacervate nanodroplets. The resultant assemblies were primarily composed of HA and cationic chitosan oligosaccharide/dextran (COS/Dex) nanogels and had a controllable structure while also exhibiting biological functionality. HA in the assemblies is capable of targeting CD44-overexpressed tumor cells through CD44-mediated endocytic pathways, which are elucidated herein. Therefore, this study provides a reliable approach for the efficient loading of macromolecular payloads into complex coacervate nanodroplets via electrostatic-attraction-induced high-order assembly.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cations
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Hyaluronic Acid
  • Nanogels
  • Nanostructures*
  • Neoplasms*

Substances

  • Cations
  • Nanogels
  • Hyaluronic Acid