Revealing macropinocytosis using nanoparticles

Endocytosis mechanisms are one of the methods that cells use to interact with their environments. Endocytosis mechanisms vary from the clathrin-mediated endocytosis to the receptor independent macropinocytosis. Macropinocytosis is a niche of endocytosis that is quickly becoming more relevant in various fields of research since its discovery in the 1930s. Macropinocytosis has several distinguishing factors from other receptor-mediated forms of endocytosis, including: types of extracellular material for uptake, signaling cascade, and niche uses between cell types. Nanoparticles (NPs) are an important tool for various applications, including drug delivery and disease treatment. However, surface engineering of NPs could be tailored to target them inside the cells exploiting different endocytosis pathways, such as endocytosis versus macropinocytosis. Such surface engineering of NPs mainly, size, charge, shape and the core material will allow identification of new adapter molecules regulating different endocytosis process and provide further insight into how cells tweak these pathways to meet their physiological need. In this review, we focus on the description of macropinocytosis, a lesser studied endocytosis mechanism than the conventional receptor mediated endocytosis. Additionally, we will discuss nanoparticle endocytosis (including macropinocytosis), and how the physio-chemical properties of the NP (size, charge, and surface coating) affect their intracellular uptake and exploiting them as tools to identify new adapter molecules regulating these processes.