Structural Rearrangements of Polymeric Insulin-loaded Nanoparticles Interacting with Surface-Supported Model Lipid Membranes

The design and screening of nanoparticles for therapeutic applications (nanodrugs) belong to an emerging research area, where surface based analytical techniques are promising tools. This study reports on the interaction of electro- statically assembled nanoparticles, developed for non-invasive administration of human insulin, with cell membrane mimics. Interactions between the nanoparticles and differently charged surface-supported model membranes were studied in real-time with the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) technique, in some ex- periments combined with optical reflectometry. Based on the experimental observations, we conclude that structural rearrangements of the nanoparticles occur upon adsorption to negatively charged lipid membranes.␣ The degree of structural changes in the nanoparticles will have important implications for the induced release of the protein drug load. The presented results provide an example of how a surface-based experimental platform can be used to charac- terize the physico-chemical properties of nanosized drug carriers with respect to their interactions at different surfaces