Nanocorona Formation between Foodborne Nanoparticles Extracted from Roast Squid and Human Serum Albumin

Foodborne nanoparticles (FNPs) produced by roasting have attracted the attention of people, owing to their safety risk to body health. Herein, we reported the formation, physicochemical properties, elemental composition, biodistribution, and binding with human serum albumin (HSA) of FNPs extracted from roast squid. The results showed that the FNP size gradually decreased from 4.1 to 2.3 nm as the roasting temperature changed from 190 to 250 °C. The main component elements of FNPs are carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, and the carbon and nitrogen contents of FNPs increased with the roasting temperature rising. The surface of FNPs contained hydroxyl, amino, and carboxyl functional groups. The FNPs can emit fluorescence in ultraviolet light and show excitation-dependent emission behavior. Furthermore, it was found that the FNPs derived from roast squid could be accumulated in the stomach, intestine, and brain of BALB/c mice after oral feeding. Static fluorescence quenching of HSA was found by the Stern-Volmer equation and ultraviolet-visible spectrum analysis after interaction with the FNPs. After the addition of FNPs, the α-helix content of HSA decreased and the morphological height of HSA increased, which indicated that the FNPs could cause structural changes in HSA. The atomic force microscopy characterization showed the formation of nanocorona between FNPs and HSA.