Monopoli, Marco P.

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Monopoli, Marco P.
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Monopoli, Marco P.

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  • Publication
    Biomolecular coronas provide the biological identity of nanosized materials
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2012-12-05)
    Monopoli, Marco P. 
    ;
    Åberg, Christoffer 
    ;
    Salvati, Anna 
    ;
    Dawson, Kenneth A. 
    The search for understanding the interactions of nanosized materials with living organisms is leading to the rapid development of key applications, including improved drug delivery by targeting nanoparticles, and resolution of the potential threat of nanotechnological devices to organisms and the environment. Unless they are specifically designed to avoid it, nanoparticles in contact with biological fluids are rapidly covered by a selected group of biomolecules to form a corona that interacts with biological systems. Here we review the basic concept of the nanoparticle corona and its structure and composition, and highlight how the properties of the corona may be linked to its biological impacts. We conclude with a critical assessment of the key problems that need to be resolved in the near future.
      3430Scopus© Citations 2152
  • Publication
    Transferrin-functionalized nanoparticles lose their targeting capabilities when a biomolecule corona adsorbs on the surface
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2013-01-20)
    Salvati, Anna 
    ;
    Pitek, Andrzej S. 
    ;
    Monopoli, Marco P. 
    ;
    Prapainop, Kanlaya 
    ;
    Baldelli Bombelli, Francesca 
    ;
    Hristov, Delyan R. 
    ;
    Kelly, Philip 
    ;
    Åberg, Christoffer 
    ;
    Mahon, Eugene 
    ;
    Dawson, Kenneth A. 
    Nanoparticles have been proposed as carriers for drugs, genes and therapies to treat various diseases1, 2. Many strategies have been developed to target nanomaterials to specific or over-expressed receptors in diseased cells, and these typically involve functionalizing the surface of nanoparticles with proteins, antibodies or other biomolecules. Here, we show that the targeting ability of such functionalized nanoparticles may disappear when they are placed in a biological environment. Using transferrin-conjugated nanoparticles, we found that proteins in the media can shield transferrin from binding to both its targeted receptors on cells and soluble transferrin receptors. Although nanoparticles continue to enter cells, the targeting specificity of transferrin is lost. Our results suggest that when nanoparticles are placed in a complex biological environment, interaction with other proteins in the medium and the formation of a protein corona3, 4 can ‘screen’ the targeting molecules on the surface of nanoparticles and cause loss of specificity in targeting.
      3049Scopus© Citations 1472