2. Academic Validation
  3. An integrative method for evaluating the biological effects of nanoparticle-protein corona

An integrative method for evaluating the biological effects of nanoparticle-protein corona

  • Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj. 2023 Mar;1867(3):130300. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2022.130300.
Yushuang Hou 1,  Shuyang Tu 2,  Xiaohuan Zhao 3,  Guangyi Li 2,  Na Li 4,  Aihua Zou 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People's Republic of China.
  • 2 National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (Zhangjiang Laboratory), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, People's Republic of China.
  • 3 Analysis Center of Agrobiology and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People's Republic of China.
  • 4 National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (Zhangjiang Laboratory), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People's Republic of China; College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 36577488 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2022.130300
Abstract

Background: Nanoplastics in the environment can enter the human body through gastrointestinal intake, dermal contact, and pulmonary inhalation, posing a threat to human health. Protein molecules in body fluids will quickly adsorb on the surfaces of the nanoplastics, forming a protein corona, which has implications for the interaction of the nanoplastics with cells and the metabolic pathways of the nanoplastic within cells. For years, practical tools such as dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and liquid chromatography have been developed to understand the protein corona of nanoparticles (NPs), either in vitro or in cellular or molecular level. However, an integrated approach to understand the nanoparticles-protein corona is still lacking.

Methods: Using the most frequently observed environmental nanoplastics, polystyrene nanoplastics (PS), as a standard, we established an integrative structural characterization platform, a biophysical and biochemical evaluation method to investigate the effect of surface charge on protein corona composition. The cellular and molecular mechanisms were also explored through in vitro cellular experiments.

Results: The first integrative method for characterizing biological properties of NPs-protein corona has been established. This method comprehensively covers the critical aspects to understand NPs-protein corona interactions, from structure to function.

Conclusions: The integrative method for nanoplastics microstructure characterization can be applied to the structural characterization of nanoparticles in nanoscale, which is of universal significance from in vitro characterization to cellular experiments and then to molecular mechanism studies.

General significance: This strategy has high reliability and repeatability and can be applied both in environment and nanomedicine safety assessment.

Keywords

Autophagic effect; Cellular uptake; Cytotoxicity; Integrative structural characterization; Nanoparticles; Protein corona.

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