Quantifying the Endosomal Escape of pH-Responsive Nanoparticles Using the Split Luciferase Endosomal Escape Quantification Assay

Abstract

All nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize the delivery of therapeutic cargo such as peptides, proteins, and RNA. However, effective cytosolic delivery of cargo from nanoparticles represents a significant challenge in the design of more efficient drug delivery vehicles. Recently, research has centered on designing nanoparticles with the capacity to escape endosomes by responding to biological stimuli such as changes in pH, which occur when nanoparticles are internalized into the endo-/lysosomal pathway. Current endosomal escape assays rely on indirect measurements and yield little quantitative information, which hinders the design of more efficient drug delivery vehicles. Therefor..