Differential analysis of "protein corona" profile adsorbed onto different nonviral gene delivery systems

A shotgun proteomics approach was used to characterize and compare the proteins that lead to the formation of a rich "protein corona" adsorbed onto the surfaces of cationic liposomes (CLs), lipoplexes, and lipid/polycation/DNA (LPD) complexes, when they come into contact with plasma. After separation of the nanoparticle-protein complex from plasma, the protein mixture was digested, and peptides were analyzed by nanoliquid chromatography-Orbitrap LTQ-XL mass spectrometry. The number of proteins bound to lipoplexes was double that of those identified in the corona of CLs (208 vs 105), while 77 proteins were common to both coronas. The number of proteins bound to the surface of the LPD complexes (158, 133 of which are common to lipoplexes) is intermediate between those found in the protein corona of both CLs and lipoplexes. About half of them were found in the protein corona of CLs. By overlapping the three formulations, it can be seen that only 12 proteins are peculiar to LPD complexes. These results may help in designing gene delivery systems capable of binding the minimum possible quantity of proteins that influence transfection negatively, binding selectively proteins capable of helping in steering in vivo the vector toward the target, and obtaining more efficient and effective gene therapy.