The effect of the serum corona on interactions between a single nano-object and a living cell

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) which enter physiological fluids are rapidly coated by proteins, forming a so-called corona which may strongly modify their interaction with tissues and cells relative to the bare NPs. In this work the interactions between a living cell and a nano-object, and in particular the effect on this of the adsorption of serum proteins, are directly examined by measuring the forces arising as an Atomic Force Microscope tip (diameter 20 nm) - simulating a nano-object - approaches and contacts a cell. We find that the presence of a serum protein corona on the tip strongly modifies the interaction as indicated by pronounced increase in the indentation, hysteresis and work of adhesion compared to a bare tip. Classically one expects an AFM tip interacting with a cell surface to be repelled due to cell elastic distortion, offset by tip-cell adhesion, and indeed such a model fits the bare-tip/cell interaction, in agreement with earlier work. However, the force plots obtained with serum-modified tips are very different, indicating that the cell is much more compliant to the approaching tip. The insights obtained in this work may promote better design of NPs for drug delivery and other nano-medical applications.

Prostacyclin Analogue–Loaded Nanoparticles Attenuate Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

“…Injection of ONO-1301NPs revealed their better histological migration properties compared with those of the ONO-1301 solution, leading to a greater pharmacological efficacy in the reperfused ischemic myocardium. In addition, a protein corona effect 27, 28 might contribute to the peculiar localization of NPs in the ischemic area; this topic was not investigated in the present study. We speculated that some ONO-1301NPs would be surrounded by a corona in circulation, which may interact specifically with the targeted cells and trigger an internalization process, whereas bare ONO-1301 may interact differently.…”

Protective Effect of Indomethacin-loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles Against Oxidative Stress-Induced Cytotoxicity in Human Breast Adenocarcinoma Cell Model

“…This effect occurs due to the high-energy surface of the nanoparticles. The corona protein provides steric stabilization or destabilization by charge imbalance, altering the nanoparticles surface area, size, charge and its interaction with cell receptors, changing the cellular uptake mechanism and its bioavailability 36,37 . In addition, these particles can interact with cells in the microenvironment making changes, including damage such as oxidative stress and cytotoxicity 37 .…”

Deciphering the Structure and Chemical Composition of Drug Nanocarriers: From Bulk Approaches to Individual Nanoparticle Characterization

“…[ 108 ] More recently, an AFM tip (diameter 20 nm) coated with serum proteins was used to mimic a NP in contact with blood to directly examine its interactions with cells. [ 109 ] Note that this non‐exhaustive list provides only few examples that highlight the growing interest of these approaches in the scientific community.…”