Figure 1.

Intracellular transport of NPs. (a) Schematic diagram showing the transport of vesicles containing NPs within the cellular microtubule network. MTs are long tubulin polymers and are often anchored at the centrosome. Their plus ends extend toward the cell periphery, whereas their minus ends are located closer to the cell centre and are often anchored at the centrosome. Inset figure: Vesicular transport along MTs is supported by the motor proteins, dynein and kinesin. NP transport along actin filaments is supported by motor proteins closer to the cell periphery. (b) Representation of a single GNP functionalized with PEG and RGD peptides. (c) Snapshot of a live cell showing vesicles containing NPs (marked in red; left most), MTs (marked in green; middle), and the merged image (right most). Scale bar is 20 µm.