protein corona – Inorganic Nanoparticles Group

Size-Dependent Protein–Nanoparticle Interactions in Citrate-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles: The Emergence of the Protein Corona. Published in Bioconjugate Chemistry

Editor — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 13:05:06 +0000

Surface modifications of highly monodisperse citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with sizes ranging from 3.5 to 150 nm after their exposure to cell culture media supplemented with fetal bovine serum were studied and characterized by the combined use of UV−vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential measurements. In all the tested AuNPs, a dynamic process of protein adsorption was observed, evolving toward the formation of an irreversible hard protein coating known as Protein Corona. Interestingly, the thickness and density of this protein coating were strongly dependent on the particle size, making it possible to identify different transition regimes as the size of the particles increased: (i) NP-protein complexes (or incomplete corona), (ii) the formation of a near-single dense protein corona layer, and (iii) the formation of a multilayer corona. In addition, the different temporal patterns in the evolution of the protein coating came about more quickly for small particles than for the larger ones, further revealing the significant role that size plays in the kinetics of this process. Since the biological identity of the NPs is ultimately determined by the protein corona and different NP−biological interactions take place at different time scales, these results are relevant to biological and toxicological studies.

Size-Dependent Protein–Nanoparticle Interactions in Citrate-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles: The Emergence of the Protein Corona.

Jordi Piella, Neus G. Bastus, and Víctor Puntes Bioconjugate Chem., 2017, 28 (1), pp 88–97

Formation of the Protein Corona: The Interface between Nanoparticles and the Immune System. Published in Seminars in Immunology

Editor — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 11:14:42 +0000

The interaction of inorganic nanoparticles and many biological fluids often withstands the formation of a Protein Corona enveloping the nanoparticle. This Protein Corona provides the biological identity to the nanoparticle that the immune system will detect. The formation of this Protein Corona depends not only on the composition of the nanoparticle, its size, shape, surface state and exposure time, but also on the type of media, nanoparticle to protein ratio and the presence of ions and other molecular species that interfere in the interaction between proteins and nanoparticles. This has important implications on immune safety, biocompatibility and the use of nanoparticles in medicine.

Formation of the Protein Corona: The Interface between Nanoparticles and the Immune System

New paper on the protein corona formation on bioconjugated gold nanoparticles

Editor — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:16:51 +0000

A new paper is out on the study of the protein corona formation and the thermal denaturalization in bioconjugated gold nanoparticles. The work was led by the Colloids and Polymers Physics Group from the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC), and resulted from a collaboration between Eudald Casals, Víctor Puntes, and Sonia Goy, who is currently a visiting researcher from USC at our group in Barcelona. Congratulations on this joint work!

Physicochemical Characteristics of Protein–NP Bioconjugates: The Role of Particle Curvature and Solution Conditions on Human Serum Albumin Conformation and Fibrillogenesis Inhibition. S. Goy-López, J. Juárez, M. Alatorre-Meda, E. Casals, V.F. Puntes, P. Taboada, V. Mosquera. Langmuir (DOI 10.1021/la300402w), 2012:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la300402w

Eudald Casals has defended his PhD thesis!

Editor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:28:24 +0000

Eudald has successfully defended his thesis, entitled “Reactivity and Impact of Inorganic Nanoparticles in Biological Environments: Building Up NanoSafety” last Wednesday January 18. Congratulations Dr. Casals!