© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

9.4.5.7 Nuclear Membrane Penetration

Most of the methods proposed for plasma membrane penetration can also be applied to the nuclear membrane, with several important differences. First, the entry procedure should proceed at a much slower velocity, to preclude any possibility of damaging the chromatin (Section 8.5.4.7). Second, chromatin is attached to the nuclear cortex away from the nuclear pores, and also in specific chromosomal territories, so special care must be taken to avoid disturbing these configurations. Third, the region to be traversed is much deeper -- two lipid bilayer membranes separated by a perinuclear space, and lined on the nucleoplasmic side by a nuclear cortex of varying width (Fig. 8.46) -- which may require a somewhat different design than systems used for single-membrane bilayer penetration.

Last updated on 21 February 2003