Name: models and methods to evaluate transport of drug delivery systems across cellular barriers
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Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers at JoVE.com

This work was supported by a fellowship of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Science Foundation to R.G, and funds awarded to S.M. by the National Institutes of Health (Grant R01-HL98416) and the American Heart Association (Grant 09BGIA2450014).

1. Culturing a Cell Monolayer in Transwell Inserts
<ol>
	<li>In a sterile, biosafety level 2 cell culture hood, place 0.8 mm&#160;pore PET transwell inserts into a 24-well plate (4 wells per condition, for statistical significance) with forceps. All materials entering the hood should be sterilized with ethanol.</li>
</ol>
Note: The pore size of the filter needs to be selected in accord to the mean size of the NC used, to allow transport across the membrane. Also, for statistically significan...

<ol>
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Using the methods discussed above, a cell model for studying transport of targeted NCs across cellular barriers can be established, such as the example provided for Caco-2 epithelial cells, which is relevant to evaluating transport from the GI lumen into the blood in the case of oral drug delivery systems. Culturing of GI epithelial cell monolayers in transwell inserts enabled measurement of TEER and fluorescence immunostaining of tight junctions to confirm formation of a cell permeability barrier. Subsequently, radiolab...

Cellular barriers in the body act as a gateway between the external environment and internal compartments. This is the case for the epithelial lining separating the externally-exposed surface of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the bloodstream1-3. Cellular barriers also represent the interface between the bloodstream and the parenchyma and cellular components of tissues and organs. This is the case for the inner endothelial lining in blood vessels, such as the blood-lung barrier, the blood-brain barrier, etc.1&#160;The ability to traverse these cellular barriers in the body is crucial for efficient delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents into the circulation and tissues/organs where intervention is needed.
To improve delivery of therapeutic or diagnostic agents, these compounds can be loaded into sub-micrometer nanocarriers (NCs). These drug delivery vehicles can be formulated with a variety of chemistries and structures to optimize drug solubility, protection, pharmacokinetics, release, and metabolism4,5. NCs can also be functionalized with affinity or targeting moieties (e.g.&#160;antibodies, peptides sugars, aptamers, etc.) to facilitate adhesion to areas of the body where the therapeutic action is required2,6. Targeting of NCs to determinants expressed on the surface of cellular barriers can further facilitate transport into and/or across these linings2,6.
The role of selectively transporting substances between two environments requires certain unique features among cell layers. One such feature is cell polarity, whereby the apical membrane facing the lumen of cavities varies from the basolateral membrane oriented towards the tissue interstitium, with respect to membrane morphology and composition of lipids, transporters, and receptors2. Another feature involves intercellular junctions connecting adjacent cells. Regulation of the proteins that form tight junctions, particularly junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs), occludins, and claudins, modulate the barrier function to selectively allow or not transport of substances between cells, known as paracellular transport, allowing passage of materials from the lumen to the basolateral space3. Binding of many natural and synthetic elements (leukocytes, molecules, particles, and drug delivery systems) to cellular barriers in the body can induce cell-junction opening, which may be transient and relatively innocuous or more prolonged and, therefore, unsafe with access of undesired substances across the barrier2,5,7-9. Consequently, this pathway can be assessed by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and passive paracellular diffusion of molecules (herein called paracellular leakage), whereby decreased resistance to an electrical current or increased paracellular leakage of an inert compound into the basolateral space indicate opening of cell junctions, respectively5,10,11. To complement these methods, any of the tight junction proteins listed above can be stained to assess their integrity, where staining should appear concentrated at the cell-cell borders all around the cell periphery5,10,12.
Alternatively, drug delivery systems that target specific cell surface determinants, such as those associated to clathrin-coated pits or flask-shaped membrane invaginations called caveolae, may trigger vesicular uptake into cells by endocytosis, providing an avenue for drug delivery to intracellular compartments5,13. In addition, endocytosis may lead to trafficking of vesicles across the cell body for release at the basolateral side, a phenomenon known as transyctosis, or transcellular transport14. Therefore, knowledge of the kinetics and mechanism of endocytosis may be used to exploit intracellular and transcellular drug delivery, which offers a relatively safe and controlled mode of delivery compared to the paracellular route. The mechanism of endocytosis may be evaluated with modulators of classical pathways (clathrin- and caveolin-mediated endocytosis, and macropinocytosis) or non-classical routes (such as the case of cell adhesion molecule (CAM)-mediated endocytosis)5,13,15.
Whereas intracellular trafficking is often studied in standard wells or coverslips, the absence of a basolateral compartment precludes cell polarization and the ability to study transport across cell layers. To overcome this obstacle, transport across cell monolayers has been long studied using transwell inserts10,11,16,17, which consist of an upper (apical) chamber, a porous permeable membrane where cells attach and form a tight monolayer, and a lower (basolateral) chamber (Figure 1). In this configuration, transport can be measured in the apical-to-basolateral direction by administering a treatment into the upper chamber, following transport through the cell monolayer and the underlying porous membrane, and finally collecting the medium in the lower chamber for quantification of transported material. Transport in the basolateral-to-apical direction can also be measured by initial administration to the lower chamber and subsequent collection from the upper chamber5,10,12,16. Various techniques exist to verify the formation of permeability barrier on transwells, including TEER and paracellular transport assays, as described above. In addition, the permeable filter on which cells are cultured can be removed for imaging analysis (e.g.&#160;by fluorescence, confocal, electron microscopy), as further validation of the cell monolayer model as well as the mechanism of transport. Selection of the membrane type, which is available in different pore sizes, materials, and surface areas, depends on various factors such as the size of substances or objects to be transported, cell type, and imaging method16,18-20. Transwell inserts also facilitate controlled and accurate quantification of transport compared to complex mammalian systems, as volumes of the chambers and cell surface area are known constants. While many factors involved in in vivo delivery are eliminated, including the presence of intestinal mucus, shear stress, digestive enzymes, immune cells, etc., this small scale in vitro model provides useful preliminary information regarding transport.
As an example to illustrate the adaptation of these methods to study NC transport across cellular barriers10,11,16,17, we describe here a case where the potential for NC transport across the GI epithelium was modeled by assessing passage of a model drug delivery system through a monolayer of human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells. For this purpose, cells were cultured in transwell inserts, on a 0.8 &#956;m&#160;pore polyethylene terephthalate (PET) filter (6.4 mm&#160;diameter), which is transparent and can be used for microscopy imaging. The status of the permeability barrier is validated by measuring TEER, apical-to-basolateral transport of a control substance, albumin, and fluorescence microscopy visualization of an element of the tight junctions, occludin protein. A model of targeted polymer NC is used, consisting of 100&#160;nm, nonbiodegradable polystyrene nanoparticles. NCs are coated by surface adsorption with a targeting antibody alone or a combination of a targeting antibody and a therapeutic cargo, where either component can be labeled with 125I for radioisotope tracing. In the selected example, the antibody recognizes intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a protein expressed on the surface of GI epithelial (and other) cells, which has been shown to facilitate intracellular and transcellular transport of drug carriers and their cargoes21. The cargo is alpha-Galactosidase (&#945;-Gal), a therapeutic enzyme used for treatment of Fabry disease, a genetic lysosomal storage disorder22.
The coated NCs, of about 200&#160;nm in size, are added to the apical chamber over the cell monolayer and incubated at 37 &#176;C for varying periods of time, after which 125I on NCs can be detected associated to the cell monolayer and/or transported to the basolateral chamber below the cells. Additional determination of free 125I allows subtraction of the degraded fraction and estimation of coated NC transport. The mechanism of transport is further assessed by examining changes in the permeability barrier pertaining to the paracellular route, through the parameters described above, while transcellular transport is determined by examining changes in transport when modulating pathways of endocytosis and transcytosis.
These methods provide valuable information regarding cellular barrier models, the extent and rate of transport of a drug delivery system, and the mechanism of such transport, altogether allowing evaluation of the potential for drug delivery across cellular barriers.

<table border="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Transwell inserts</td>
			<td>BD Falcon</td>
			<td>353095</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle&#39;s Medium (DMEM), 1x</td>
			<td>Cellgro</td>
			<td>10-013-CM</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>Cellgro</td>
			<td>35-015-CV</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pen Strep</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>HTB-37TM</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>125Iodine</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>NEZ033H002MC</td>
			<td>Radioactive hazard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>14190-235</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)</td>
			<td>Equitech Bio</td>
			<td>BAH-66</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Paraformaldehyde (16%)</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse Immunoglobulin G (IgG)</td>
			<td>Jackson ImmunoResearch</td>
			<td>015-000-003</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse monoclonal antibodies to human ICAM-1 (anti-ICAM)</td>
			<td>Marlin 1987</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&#945;-Galactosidase, from green coffee beans</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>G8507-25UN</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FITC latex beads, 100 nm</td>
			<td>Polysciences, Inc.</td>
			<td>17150</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>234729-500ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trichloroacetic acid (TCA)</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>SA433-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Occludin antibody (Y-12), goat polyclonal anti-human</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td>Sc-27151</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monodansylcadaverine (MDC)</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>D4008</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Filipin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>F9765</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride (EIPA)</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A3085</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Wortmannin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>W1628</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gamma counter</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>Wizard2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Volt-ohm meter</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>EVOM2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TEER electrodes</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>STX100</td>
			<td>Electrodes available for different well-plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS)</td>
			<td>Malvern</td>
			<td>Nano-ZS90</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

models and methods to evaluate transport of drug delivery systems across cellular barriers

Sub-micrometer carriers (nanocarriers; NCs) enhance efficacy of drugs by improving solubility, stability, circulation time, targeting, and release. Additionally, traversing cellular barriers in the body is crucial for both oral delivery of therapeutic NCs into the circulation and transport from the blood into tissues, where intervention is needed. NC transport across cellular barriers is achieved by: (i) the paracellular route, via transient disruption of the junctions that interlock adjacent cells, or (ii) the transcellular route, where materials are internalized by endocytosis, transported across the cell body, and secreted at the opposite cell surface (transyctosis). Delivery across cellular barriers can be facilitated by coupling therapeutics or their carriers with targeting agents that bind specifically to cell-surface markers involved in transport. Here, we provide methods to measure the extent and mechanism of NC transport across a model cell barrier, which consists of a monolayer of gastrointestinal (GI) epithelial cells grown on a porous membrane located in a transwell insert. Formation of a permeability barrier is confirmed by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), transepithelial transport of a control substance, and immunostaining of tight junctions. As an example, ~200&#160;nm polymer NCs are used, which carry a therapeutic cargo and are coated with an antibody that targets a cell-surface determinant. The antibody or therapeutic cargo is labeled with 125I for radioisotope tracing and labeled NCs are added to the upper chamber over the cell monolayer for varying periods of time. NCs associated to the cells and/or transported to the underlying chamber can be detected. Measurement of free 125I allows subtraction of the degraded fraction. The paracellular route is assessed by determining potential changes caused by NC transport to the barrier parameters described above. Transcellular transport is determined by addressing the effect of modulating endocytosis and transcytosis pathways.

As validation of our cell model to study transepithelial transport of targeted NCs, Figure 2 shows that Caco-2 cell monolayers plated at a density of 1.5 &#215; 105 cells/cm2 reached confluence ~Day 12 and maintained monolayer integrity up to Day 18, indicated by TEER (Figure 2A). This was validated by the presence of occludin-positive tight junctions (Figure 2B) in monolayers with high TEER (390 &#937;&#215;cm2, Day 14), compared to poor...

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Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers

Many therapeutic applications require safe and efficient transport of drug carriers and their cargoes across cellular barriers in the body. This article describes an adaptation of established methods to evaluate the rate and mechanism of transport of drug nanocarriers (NCs) across cellular barriers, such as the gastrointestinal (GI) epithelium.

Sub-micrometer carriers (nanocarriers; NCs) enhance efficacy of drugs by improving solubility, stability, circulation time, targeting, and release. ...

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