The protein corona on nanoparticles as viewed from a nanoparticle-sizing perspective

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology
• Nanoscale Systems in Biology
• Biomolecular Interactions

Background:

• Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) interact with biomolecules in biological fluids, forming a biomolecular corona.
• This corona alters NP properties and interactions with biological systems.
• The structure and dynamics of the biomolecular corona are still debated, particularly protein adsorption layers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively investigate the structure of the biomolecular corona formed on engineered nanoparticles.
• To resolve debates regarding protein adsorption, specifically monolayer versus multilayer formation.
• To critically discuss characterization methods for the biomolecular corona.

Main Methods:

• In situ fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was used to study NP-protein interactions.
• Highly defined model NPs and key serum proteins were employed.
• Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was also utilized for characterization.

Main Results:

• Protein monolayer formation was consistently observed around NPs under saturation or oversaturation conditions.
• This finding challenges the view of multilayer adsorption in biomolecular corona formation.
• The study provides quantitative data on NP-protein interactions.

Conclusions:

• Protein monolayer formation is a universal observation under tested conditions.
• Further quantitative experiments are essential to fully elucidate biomolecular corona formation mechanisms and structure.
• FCS and DLS are valuable tools for biomolecular corona characterization, but challenges remain.