A Biomimetic Escape Strategy for Cytoplasm Invasion by Synthetic Particles

The translocation of nanomaterials or complex delivery systems into the cytosol is a major challenge in nanobiotechnology. After receptor‐mediated endocytosis, most nanomaterials are sequestered and undergo degradation, therapy inactivation, or exocytosis. Herein we explore a novel surface particle coating made of adsorbed carbon nanotubes that provides coated materials with new properties that reproduce the viral cell‐invasive mechanisms, namely, receptor‐mediated endocytosis, endolysosomal escape, and cytosolic particle release preserving cell viability. This novel biomimetic coating design will enable the intracytoplasmic delivery of many different functional materials endowed with therapeutic, magnetic, optical, or catalytic functionalities, thus opening the door to a wide array of chemical and physical processes within the cytosolic or nuclear domains, and supporting new developments in the biotechnological, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries. A clean getaway: An engineered nanocoating composed of carbon nanotubes enabled particles with nano/micrometer dimensions to break through lysosomal membranes and invade the intracellular realm (see picture). The coated materials resemble viruses in terms of their structure and reproduce the viral cell‐invasive mechanisms of receptor‐mediated endocytosis, endolysosomal escape, and cytosolic particle release with the preservation of cell viability.