Merging Worlds of Nanomaterials and Biological Environment: Factors Governing Protein Corona Formation on Nanoparticles and Its Biological Consequences

Abstract

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Protein corona has became a prevalent subject in the field of nanomedicine owing to its diverse role in determining the efficiency, efficacy, and the ultimate biological fate of the nanomaterials used as a tool to treat and diagnose various diseases. For instance, protein corona formation on the surface of nanoparticles can modify its physicochemical properties and interfere with its intended functionalities in the biological microenvironments. As such, much emphasis should be placed in understanding these complex phenomena that occur at the bio-nano interface. The main aim of this review is to present different factors that are influencing protein-nanoparticle interaction such as physicochemical properties of nanoparticle (i.e., size and size distribution, shape, composition, surface chemistry, and coatings) and the effect of biological microenvironments. Apart from that, the effect of ignored factors at the bio-nano interface such as temperature, plasma concentration, plasma gradient effect, administration route, and cell observer were also addressed.Keywords: Protein corona; Nanoparticle; Bio-nano interface; Ignored factors Review IntroductionNanoscience is recognized as a promising field of science that can overcome several scientific shortcomings in diverse scientific fields, such as physics, biology, chemistry, and materials science [1,2]. The breakthroughs achieved in the field of nanoscience are mainly attributable to the changes in the properties of materials as they are reduced to the size of nanometer from their bulk form. The materials assume novel mechanical, chemical, electrical, optical, magnetic, electro-optical, and magnetooptical properties as compared to bulkier counterparts [3][4][5]. For instance, gold in bulk form is inert and conducts electricity, however gold shrunk into "nano" form becomes a very good catalyst and turns into a semiconductor instead. One of the most exciting prospects that have emerged from the field of nanoscience is nanoparticle (NP) technology that are currently being incorporated and utilized to solve many intricate technical problems in modern science, chiefly in the field of medicine and biomedical science, which has given birth to the term nanomedicine. Application of NP in medical biology arises from their ability to encounter cellular machinery and potentially access to unreachable targets like the brain due to their small size [6,7]. Consequently, they have shown promising application in various branches of biomedical science such as drug delivery [8], gene delivery [9][10][11], tissue repair [ 12], cancer therapy, [ 13] disease diagnoses and therapy [14], hyperthermia [15], magnetic resonance spectroscopy [16], and as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [ 17].NPs owing to their large surface-to-volume ratio have a very active surface chemistry in comparison to bulk materials....

The Impact of Nanoparticle Protein Corona on Cytotoxicity, Immunotoxicity and Target Drug Delivery

“…These proteins are involved in the same cellular processes, namely, complement activation, pathogen recognition and blood coagulation. Despite this similarity in function, they have a different physiological impact on NPs depending on their material [2,45]. Among these, immunoglobulin G, serum albumin, fibrinogen, clusterin and apolipoproteins are generally present in the PC of most analyzed NPs after exposure to plasma [2,46].…”

Modifying the Surface of Silica Nanoparticles with Amino or Carboxyl Groups Decreases Their Cytotoxicity to Parenchymal Hepatocytes

“…13) In addition, we previously demonstrated that coagulation factor XII bound more extensively to the surface of nSP70 than to nSP70-N by using Western blot analysis. 8) Therefore, because differences in the surface characteristics of nanomaterials influence the protein profile of the corona, 14) differences in the amount or species of the proteins bound by unmodified compared with surface-modified nSP70s may influence ROS generation.…”

Cellular Response of Therapeutic Nanoparticles

“…Interaction of NPs with biomolecules and composition of the resulting protein corona is affected by many factors (Foroozandeh and Aziz 2015). The physicochemical properties of NPs and the biological environment are vital parameters governing protein corona formation.…”

“…Negatively charged NPs have been shown for enhancement in plasma protein absorption with an increase in the surface charge density of NPs (Gessner et al 2002). In addition, proteins with isoelectric points (PI) of less than 5.5 adsorbed on positively charged NPs whereas proteins with isoelectric points of higher than 5.5 bound to negatively charged NPs (Foroozandeh and Aziz 2015). More proteins can adsorb onto the surface of hydrophobic NPs than their hydrophilic counterparts and lose their native structure (Roach et al 2005).…”