Controlled protein delivery from photosensitive nanoparticles

Light provides a powerful approach for delivery of cargos and study of important biological events. This article reports a series of photosensitive and biocompatible delivery of nanoparticles which released proteins upon light irradiation. The nanoparticles were synthesized by emulsion copolymerization of 2‐(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate with functional monomers and a photoliable o‐nitrobenzyl diacrylate crosslinker. Upon mild UV irradiation (λ = 365 nm, 10 mJ/cm2), the photosensitive crosslinker underwent light‐induced degradation and the sizes of the nanoparticles increased dramatically. The nanoparticles were uptaken by the cells which is confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. Bovine serum albumin and green fluorescent protein were loaded as model proteins into the nanoparticles and accelerated photo‐triggered release were achieved. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 65–70, 2015.