Multifunctional nanomedicine holds considerable promise as the next generation of medicine that allows for targeted therapy with minimal toxicity. Most current studies on Nanoparticle (NP) drug delivery consider a Newtonian fluid with suspending NPs. However, blood is a complex biological fluid composed of deformable cells, proteins, platelets, and plasma. For blood flow in capillaries, arterioles and venules, the particulate nature of the blood needs to be considered in the delivery process. The existence of the cell-free-layer and NP-cell interaction will largely influence both the dispersion and binding rates, thus impact targeted delivery efficacy. In this paper, a particle-cell hybrid model is developed to model NP transport, dispersion, and binding dynamics in blood suspension. The motion and deformation of red blood cells is captured through the Immersed Finite Element Method. The motion and adhesion of individual NPs are tracked through Brownian adhesion dynamics. A mapping algorithm and an interaction potential function are introduced to consider the cell-particle collision. NP dispersion and binding rates are derived from the developed model under various rheology conditions. The influence of red blood cells, vascular flow rate, and particle size on NP distribution and delivery efficacy is characterized. A non-uniform NP distribution profile with higher particle concentration near the vessel wall is observed. Such distribution leads to over 50% higher particle binding rate compared to the case without RBC considered. The tumbling motion of RBCs in the core region of the capillary is found to enhance NP dispersion, with dispersion rate increases as shear rate increases. Results from this study contribute to the fundamental understanding and knowledge on how the particulate nature of blood influences NP delivery, which will provide mechanistic insights on the nanomedicine design for targeted drug delivery applications.

The design of nanoparticle (NP) size, shape and surface chemistry has a significant impact on their performance. While the influences of the particle size and surface chemistry on drug delivery have been studied extensively, little is known about the effect of particle shapes on nanomedicine. In this perspective article, we discuss recent progress on the design and fabrication of NPs of various shapes and their unique delivery properties. The shapes of these drug carriers play an important role in therapeutic delivery processes, such as particle adhesion, distribution and cell internalization. We envision that stimuli-responsive NPs, which actively change their shapes and other properties, might pave way to the next generation of nanomedicine.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as promising carrier platforms for targeted drug delivery and imaging probes. To evaluate the delivery efficiency, it is important to predict the distribution of NPs within blood vessels. NP size, shape and vessel geometry are believed to influence its biodistribution in circulation. Whereas, the effect of size on nanoparticle distribution has been extensively studied, little is known about the shape and vessel geometry effect. This paper describes a computational model for NP transport and distribution in a mimetic branched blood vessel using combined NP Brownian dynamics and continuum fluid mechanics approaches. The simulation results indicate that NPs with smaller size and rod shape have higher binding capabilities as a result of smaller drag force and larger contact area. The binding dynamics of rod-shaped NPs is found to be dependent on their initial contact points and orientations to the wall. Higher concentration of NPs is observed in the bifurcation area compared to the straight section of the branched vessel. Moreover, it is found that Péclet number plays an important role in determining the fraction of NPs deposited in the branched region and the straight section. Simulation results also indicate that NP binding decreases with increased shear rate. Dynamic NP re-distribution from low to high shear rates is observed due to the non-uniform shear stress distribution over the branched channel. This study would provide valuable information for NP distribution in a complex vascular network.

One of the major challenges in nanomedicine is to improve nanoparticle cell selectivity and adhesion efficiency through designing functionalized nanoparticles of controlled sizes, shapes, and material compositions. Recent data on cylindrically shaped filomicelles are beginning to show that non-spherical particles remarkably improved the biological properties over spherical counterpart. Despite these exciting advances, non-spherical particles have not been widely used in nanomedicine applications due to the lack of fundamental understanding of shape effect on targeting efficiency. This paper intends to investigate the shape-dependent adhesion kinetics of non-spherical nanoparticles through computational modeling. The ligand-receptor binding kinetics is coupled with Brownian dynamics to study the dynamic delivery process of nanorods under various vascular flow conditions. The influences of nanoparticle shape, ligand density, and shear rate on adhesion probability are studied. Nanorods are observed to contact and adhere to the wall much easier than their spherical counterparts under the same configuration due to their tumbling motion. The binding probability of a nanorod under a shear rate of 8 s −1 is found to be three times higher than that of a nanosphere with the same volume. The particle binding probability decreases with increased flow shear rate and channel height. The Brownian motion is found to largely enhance nanoparticle binding. Results from this study contribute to the fundamental understanding and knowledge on how particle shape affects the transport and targeting efficiency of nanocarriers, which will provide mechanistic insights on the design of shape-specific nanomedicine for targeted drug delivery applications.

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