Membrane Penetration and Translocation of Nanoparticles

Understanding interactions between nanoparticles and lipid bilayer membranes is of great importance due to the potential applications in bio-nanotechnology such as drug deliveries, carrying genes, and utilization of integral membrane proteins. To investigate the dynamics of nanoparticle penetration and translocation into membranes, we performed dissipative particle dynamics simulations which use simple and intuitive coarse-grained models yet effectively describe hydrodynamic interactions in cell environment. We discuss the influence of the shape of nanoparticles as well as the properties of membranes including large membrane-embedded proteins that are found to significantly affect orientation of nanoparticles within membranes and, in turn, the minimum force required to translocate nanoparticles.