Formation and cell translocation of carbon nanotube-fibrinogen protein corona

In consideration of the vast biological and medicinal potentials of carbon-based nanomaterials, we have examined in the current study the binding of both single-walled and multi-walled CNTs with fibrinogen, a major class of plasma glycoprotein that is essential for the coagulation of blood

Ran Chen; Slaven Radic; Poonam Choudhary; Kimberley G. Ledwell; George Huang; Jared M. Brown; Pu Chun Ke

2012

Scholarcy highlights

  • The solubility and biocompatibility of carbon-based nanomaterials may be afforded or enhanced through specific surface functionalization or nonspecific adsorption of proteins, lipids, amino acids, and nucleic acids.4–8 Alternatively to such purposeful surface modifications, nanoparticles voluntarily assume the form of a NP-protein “corona” upon entering living systems,9 resulting from their surface adsorption by plasma proteins and other biomolecular species
  • In consideration of the vast biological and medicinal potentials of carbon-based nanomaterials, we have examined in the current study the binding of both single-walled and multi-walled CNTs with fibrinogen, a major class of plasma glycoprotein that is essential for the coagulation of blood
  • It is shown through this study that the formation and stability of CNT-FBI coronas correlate with the differential surface areas of the two types of CNTs, as indicated by our UV-vis spectrophotometry and electron and fluorescence measurements
  • Utilizing the energy transfer between labeled FBI and CNTs, we have shown that CNT-FBI coronas could dissociate upon cell translocation, likely as a result of the different affinities of the proteins and the nanostructures for the membrane bilayers
  • The knowledge derived from this biophysical study complements the existing proteomic, thermodynamic, and chromatographic studies of NP-protein corona,10,12,13,15–17 and may benefit both in vitro and in vivo evaluations of biological responses to intentionally administered or accidentally released nanomaterials
  • CNTs and unlabeled FBI were mixed with Milli-Q water to final concentrations of 0.3 and 0.4 mg/ml, respectively, and incubated overnight
  • Nanotubes, and agrees with the in silico studies involving similar systems.28–30 The differential “hardness” and stability of the SWNT-FBI and MWNT-FBI coronas were analyzed based on the concept of buoyant mass and Stern-Volmer plots, and were attributed to the different surface areas and morphology of the two types of CNTs. This study offers a new biophysical perspective for elucidating the concept of NP-protein corona, a topic essential to our understanding of the implications and applications of nanomaterials in living systems

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