Characterization and Biomedical Application Opportunities of the Nanoparticle's Protein Corona

Abstract

with all three external dimensions in the nanoscale, whose longest and shortest axes do not differ significantly, with a significant difference typically being a factor of at least 3." This size allows nanoscale materials to be integrated into biomedical equipment since most biological systems are also nanoscale. [2] In addition to the definition of size, NPs used in biomedical research have a high degree of diversity in structure, chemical composition, morphology, hydrophobicity, surface chemistry, electrostatic charge, and other properties. Figure 1 shows several typical NPs (magnetic NPs, carbon nanotubes, liposomes, micelles, etc.) and the related phenomena in biomedicine. [3][4][5][6][7] Various nanotechnology platforms based on these NPs have been well developed. [8][9][10][11][12] The first-generation nanocarriers, e.g., polymeric NPs, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified liposomes, can improve the pharmacokinetics and tolerability of nanoformulated drugs. [13,14] Magnetic materials are attractive for applications in biomedicine, such as directly focusing the nanocarriers on the target area by an external magnetic field [15][16][17] or killing the cancerous cells through magnetically induced hyperthermia. [18,19] Moreover, the drugs for central nervous system diseases must cross the blood-brain barrier. The nanocarriers can specifically deliver the payloads to affected regions and accumulate in selected tissues, [20][21][22] assisting in solubilizing the compounds with low solubility (e.g., paclitaxel and atovaquone) [23] and protecting the molecules of proteins and/or nucleic acids from enzymatic degradation. The next-generation nanocarriers take advantage of active targeting methods to ensure drug delivery to specific areas. These strategies depend on the surface functionalization of nanocarriers with active targeting molecules, [24] for example, hyaluronic acid, [25] folic acid, [26] antibodies, [27] or aptamers. [28] For example, Chan and collaborators developed the DNA-assembled gold nanorod "core-satellite" structures for programmable drug loading and controllable release. [29] Moreover, researchers explored the functionality of DNA-assembled inorganic NPs for operating in the complicated biological systems. It was revealed that altering the targeting ligands on the surface increased the targeting efficiency by 2.5 times. [30] Therefore, NPs have a strong potential to increase the stability and solubility of the encapsulated drugs, and promote drug transport across membranes, as well as prolong the drug circulation times and halflife to improve the safety and efficacy of drugs. [31,32] Nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in a variety of biomedical fields, such as drug delivery systems, novel theragnostic strategies, bioimaging, and biosensing. The protein corona formed by the contact between NPs and biological liquids changes the physicochemical nanoparticle characteristics, including size, shape, and surface statement. Moreover, it affects the biological fate of NPs in organisms, for instance, pharmac...

Mechanistic Understanding of Protein Corona Formation around Nanoparticles: Old Puzzles and New Insights

“…However, there are other relevant classes of biological molecules (lipids, nucleic acids, metabolites), and a comprehensive view of the bio-nano interface requires us to also examine their role in the biomolecular corona and the ensuing biological responses, e.g., cell signaling and metabolism. [216,235] Lipids are insoluble in aqueous solvents and thus transported in blood as roughly spherical lipoprotein particles with sizes in the range <10-1000 nm, featuring a lipid core that is solubilized by surface functionalization with apolipoproteins. Little is known about the mechanisms through which these natural particles interact with synthetic NPs: Will lipoproteins attach to NPs as whole particles, or transfer their material, lipids and apolipoproteins, partially or completely to the NPs?…”

Looking back, moving forward: protein corona of lipid nanoparticles

“…Similar findings were also documented for ultrasmall gold NP (usGNP) evaluations. 92 2.2.2. Controllability.…”

“…However, the lesser cognition of PC (in comparison to other factors) has caused the exploration of in vivo fate to be more difficult. 90–92 Hence, it is essential to study and discover the formation behaviors and mechanisms of PC upon LNPs.…”

An updated overview of some factors that influence the biological effects of nanoparticles

“…Li et al synthesised several NPs with similar shapes, sizes, and surface characteristics but different elasticity (45 kPa–760 MPa). After mixing these NPs with mouse plasma, they found that the composition of the protein corona formation changed non-monotonically with the increase in the elasticity of the NPs ( Li et al, 2022 ). For example, apolipoprotein AI was more likely to form the corona protein over NPs of intermediate elasticity (75–700 kPa).…”