Intracellular Delivery of a Membrane-Impermeable Enzyme in Active Form Using Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles were coated with a short peptide to promote intracellular delivery of membrane-impermeable proteins. Through microscopy and enzyme assays, we demonstrated the particles were able to transport functional enzymes into a variety of cell lines. Significantly, the transported proteins were able to escape from endosomes. Moreover, these particles showed no apparent cytotoxicity.