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Updated: Aug 13, 2025

Parallel-plate Flow Chamber and Continuous Flow Circuit to Evaluate Endothelial Progenitor Cells under Laminar Flow Shear Stress
Published on: January 17, 2012
Nanoparticles Bind to Endothelial Cells in Injured Blood Vessels via a Transient Protein Corona
Zachary P Lin1,2, Wayne Ngo1,2, Stefan M Mladjenovic1,2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G9, Canada.
Abstract:
Nanoparticles travel through blood vessels to reach disease sites, but the local environment they encounter may affect their surface chemistry and cellular interactions. Here, we found that as nanoparticles transit through injured blood vessels they may interact with a highly localized concentration of platelet factor 4 proteins released from activated platelets. The platelet factor 4 binds to the nanoparticle surface and interacts with heparan sulfate proteoglycans on endothelial cells, and induces uptake. Understanding nanoparticle interactions with blood proteins and endothelial cells during circulation is critical to optimizing their design for diseased tissue targeting and delivery.
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