Investigating the Movement of Intravitreal Human Serum Albumin Nanoparticles in the Vitreous and Retina

Purpose. To investigate the movement of intravitreally injected human serum albumin nanoparticles (HSA-NP) with respect to nanoparticle surface charge and retinal injury. Methods. HSA-NPs were developed by a desolvation technique. HSA-NPs were cationized by covalent coupling of hexamethylenediamine on the particle surface. Either anionic or cationic HSA-NPs were injected to determine the effect of surface charge on intravitreal nanoparticle movement. HSA-NPs were injected intravitreally into both normal and laser photocoagulated eyes to examine the effect of the integrity of retinal tissue on the retinal penetration. The retinal penetration of fluorescence labeled anionic HSA-NPs was investigated by confocal microscopy. Results. Anionic particles (-33.3 +/- 6.1 mV) more easily diffused through the 3-dimensional vitreal network of collagen fibrils than did their cationic counterparts (11.7 +/- 7.2 mV). In the laser photocoagulated retina, more HSA-NPs were detected in the choroidal space, compared to the normal retina. The immunohistochemical studies indicated that HSA-NPs were taken up into Muller cells. Conclusions. The movement of intravitreal nanoparticles depended on both nanoparticles surface charge and retinal injury. The Muller cells might play an important role in the retinal penetration of nanoparticles. The anionic HSA-NP is a promising drug or gene delivery carrier to the sub-retinal space and RPE.