A Novel Protein Corona Characterization based on the Reflectometric Interference Spectroscopy with Silica Colloidal Crystal Films

Abstract

It will form protein corona on the surface of nanoparticles when exposed to the biological environment. The process of protein corona formation is crucial in biomedical engineering, nanomaterials development and research, especially the protein corona formation process of medical engineering materials in blood samples, and there is no mature method for realtime monitoring. Silica colloidal crystal films were prepared by vertical deposition on the glass slides. The glass slides were placed vertically in an ethanol suspension of silica nonospheres with diameters of 110, 190 and 280 nm. After 7 days of ethanol evaporation, a large area of silica colloidal crystal film was formed on the surface of the glass slide. The glass slides of silica colloidal crystal films were assembled into reaction cell, and the reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS) system assembled by microscope light source and spectrometer were used for detection and optical thickness as a parameter. And different concentrations of hydrochloric acid were used to test the performance of the RIfS system. In this study, RIfS was utilized to detect the protein corona formation of human serum albumin, human fibrinogen and immunoglobulin G, as well as blood samples by silica colloidal crystal films which have special optical properties. It was found that the formation of immunoglobulin G had the highest optical thickness variation due to its conformation. According to the formation process of human serum albumin on silica nanosheres with different diameters, the optical thickness of protein corona was also higher on the of silica nanospheres with higher curvature. In addition, through the detection of plasma and whole blood samples, it was found that the silica colloidal crystal films could basically eliminate the interference of blood cells to the detection of protein corona. This work developed a real-time unlabeled protein corona research method, which provides a basis for the clinical application of biomedical materials. Keywords plasma protein; protein corona; reflectometric interference spectroscopy; silica colloidal crystal film; ordered porous layer interferometry

Construction of Optical Interference Fibrin and Thrombolysis Analysis with Silica Colloidal Crystal Films

“…As the substrate of RIfS, a silica colloidal crystal (SCC) film has an excellent reflection interference phenomenon. The SCC film as an ordered porous layer was used as the interference sensitive substrate to replace the planar thin film substrate in RIfS for developing ordered porous layer interferometry (OPLI) . The self-assembled SCC film has a stable structure and uniform properties, and its porous internal structure is a natural satisfactory attachment of the fibrin clot because of the three-dimensional construction …”

“…The SCC film as an ordered porous layer was used as the interference sensitive substrate to replace the planar thin film substrate in RIfS for developing ordered porous layer interferometry (OPLI). 26 The self-assembled SCC film has a stable structure and uniform properties, and its porous internal structure is a natural satisfactory attachment of the fibrin clot because of the three-dimensional construction. 27 In this work, a RIfS sensing system with the SCC film was applied for in situ monitoring of optical interference fibrin as thrombus model degradation.…”