trehalose-phosphatidylserine nanoparticles

**Trehalose-phosphatidylserine nanoparticles** are a class of engineered nanoparticle drug carriers designed to deliver trehalose in a stabilized and targeted fashion. The nanoparticles typically involve phosphatidylserine (PS) functionalization—for example, in Tr-Arg-PS nanomotors, trehalose is conjugated with arginine and assembled into nanoparticles decorated with phosphatidylserine on the surface. These carriers improve the cellular uptake and systemic stability of trehalose, protecting it from hydrolysis and facilitating targeted delivery, notably to macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques. The main **mechanism of action** is **inducing autophagy** and preventing protein aggregation within target cells. PS decoration can facilitate “eat-me” signalling for macrophage uptake, while trehalose inside acts as an autophagy activator and anti-aggregation agent. The approach has been studied preclinically for neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Huntington's disease models) and for treatment of atherosclerosis, where they have been shown to reduce aortic plaque size and protein aggregation more effectively than free trehalose. Some related systems also facilitate cancer cell ferroptosis by combining trehalose-induced autophagy with other mechanisms of cell death[1][2].

Other names

trehalose-phosphatidylserine nanomotorsTr-Arg-PS nanomotorstrehalose-bearing nanoparticles