A methodology to study intracellular distribution of nanoparticles in brain endothelial cells

This methodology was applied to investigate the intracellular distribution of the nanoparticles after their incubation with the RBEC. The results showed that PEG-PHDCA nanoparticles were able to be internalised to a higher extent than PHDCA nanoparticles (after 20 min incubation). Additionally, these nanoparticles displayed different patterns of intracellular capture, depending on their specific surface composition: PEG-PHDCA nanoparticles were 48% in the plasma membrane, 24% in the cytoplasm, 20% in vesicular compartments and 8% associated with the fraction of the nucleus, the cytoskeleton and caveolae suggesting that PEG-PHDCA nanoparticle uptake by RBEC is specific and presumably due to endocytosis. Confocal microscopy studies confirmed the cellular uptake of PEG-PHDCA nanoparticles.