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REVIEW article

Front. Nanotechnol.
Sec. Biomedical Nanotechnology
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnano.2024.1500567
This article is part of the Research Topic Spotlight on Nanotechnology: Italy View all articles

Essential protocols for decoding the composition and the functional effects of the nanoparticle protein corona

Provisionally accepted
Maria Morbidelli Maria Morbidelli Emanuele Papini Emanuele Papini Regina Tavano Regina Tavano *
  • University of Padua, Padua, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Identifying the function and composition of the protein corona (i.e., the set of host proteins interacting with nanoparticles) is considered a crucial step in the development of nanoparticles for medical and pharmacological applications. Evidence suggests that host proteins can alter NP stability, biocompatibility, and pharmacokinetics features. Therefore, in this review, we provide an updated conceptual, methodological, and experimental guideline for the study of the NP protein corona. We surveyed recent literature (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024) focusing on in vitro and in vivo studies. We show that several methods, including shot-gun proteomics, protein identification after in-gel digestion, and TMT proteomics, must be carefully applied and integrated to shed light on this complex phenomenon. Hence, we discuss in detail the relative protocols, highlighting the importance of the experimental conditions, ranging from the administration route to basic, but determinant, parameters like the kind of biological host fluids, the incubation times and the NP concentrations. Additionally, we propose a series of protocols that involve studying the protein corona using purified serum or plasma proteins, as well as sera depleted of specific complement proteins, to investigate the role of their deposition on the nanoparticle surface. We also explore how the role of the protein corona in inducing uptake by phagocytic cells can be examined; finally, we discuss several methodological approaches to study the effects of different coatings on the composition of the protein corona. Available data indicated that it is possible to characterize and punctually study the differential adsorption of specific proteins onto the nanoparticle surface. This allows designing NP chemical coatings features to actively guide the protein corona formation, thus improving nanotheranostic development

    Keywords: nanoparticle, Protein Corona, coating, Protocols, shot-gun proteomics, In-gel digestion, TMT proteomics, nanoparticle uptake by phagocytes

    Received: 23 Sep 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Morbidelli, Papini and Tavano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Regina Tavano, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.