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Mapping of Molecular Structure of the Nanoscale Surface in Bionanoparticles

2016-12-22, Herda, Luciana M., Hristov, Delyan R., Lo Giudice, Maria Cristina, Polo, Ester, Dawson, Kenneth A.

Characterizing the orientation of covalently conjugated proteins on nanoparticles, produced for in vitro and in vivo targeting, though an important feature of such a system, has proved challenging. Although extensive physicochemical characterization of targeting nanoparticles can be addressed in detail, relevant biological characterization of the nanointerface is crucial in order to select suitable nanomaterials for further in vitro or in vivo experiments. In this work, we adopt a methodology using antibody fragments (Fab) conjugated to gold nanoparticles (immunogold) to map the available epitopes on a transferrin grafted silica particle (SiO2−PEG8−Tf) as a proxy methodology to predict nanoparticle biological function, and therefore cellular receptor engagement. Data from the adopted method suggest that, on average, only∼3.5% of proteins grafted on the SiO2−PEG8−Tf nanoparticle surface have a favorable orientation for recognition by the cellular receptor.

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In situ characterization of nanoparticle biomolecular interactions in complex biological media by flow cytometry

2016-11-15, Lo Giudice, Maria Cristina, Herda, Luciana M., Polo, Ester, Dawson, Kenneth A.

Nanoparticles interacting with, or derived from, living organisms are almost invariably coated in a variety of biomolecules presented in complex biological milieu, which produce a bio-interface or ‘biomolecular corona’ conferring a biological identity to the particle. Biomolecules at the surface of the nanoparticle–biomolecule complex present molecular fragments that may be recognized by receptors of cells or biological barriers, potentially engaging with different biological pathways. Here we demonstrate that using intense fluorescent reporter binders, in this case antibodies bound to quantum dots, we can map out the availability of such recognition fragments, allowing for a rapid and meaningful biological characterization. The application in microfluidic flow, in small detection volumes, with appropriate thresholding of the detection allows the study of even complex nanoparticles in realistic biological milieu, with the emerging prospect of making direct connection to conditions of cell level and in vivo experiments.

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Differential Recognition of Nanoparticle Protein Corona and Modified Low-Density Lipoprotein by Macrophage Receptor with Collagenous Structure

2018-04-18, Lara, Sandra, Perez-Potti, André, Herda, Luciana M., Adumeau, Laurent, Dawson, Kenneth A., Yan, Yan

Key practical challenges such as understanding the immunological processes at the nanoscale and controlling the targeting and accumulation of nano-objects in vivo now further stimulate efforts to underpin phenomenological knowledge of the nanoscale with more mechanistic and molecular insight. Thus, the question as to what constitutes nanoscale biological identity continues to evolve. Certainly nanoparticles in contact with a complex biological milieu develop a biological identity, differing from the original nanomaterial, now referred to as the "biomolecular corona". However, this surface-adsorbed layer of biomolecules may in some circumstance lead to different forms of receptor-particle interactions not evident only from the identity of the surface-adsorbed biomolecules and hard to predict or detect by current physicochemical methods. Here we show that scavenger receptors may recognize complex as yet unidentified biomolecular surface layer motifs, even when no current physicochemical analysis is capable of doing so. For instance, fluorescently labeled SiO nanoparticles in a biological milieu are strongly recognized by the macrophage receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO) in even dense biological media (human serum) apparently using a form of binding with which most of the MARCO's known ligands (e.g., LPS, modified LDL) fail to compete. Such observations may suggest the need for a much stronger emphasis on nanoscale receptor-corona and other biomolecular interaction studies if one wishes to unravel how biomolecular recognition drives outcomes in the nanoscale biological domain. 2