Influence of different factors on the interaction between polymeric nanomaterials and blood plasma proteins

Abstract

In recent years, nanomaterials received increasing attention for their application as drug delivery devices. Since most carriers are applied intravenously, a new biological interface is created after they interact with blood components: the protein corona. Proteins from the blood plasma adsorb to the nanocarrier surfaces and thereby change its characteristics. The adsorption process itself depends on many factors of which four different ones have been examined in this work. First, the effect of shear force during sample preparation of nanoparticle-protein complexes was examined and different analysis techniques were applied to compare the results. Second, the role of surfactants stabilizing the nanocarriers was investigated. In this context, first tests to develop a method for surfactant quantification in the presence of nanoparticles were successfully conducted. The third factor considered was the modification of proteins with fluorescent dyes, which is often used for biochemical techniques. At last, the protein adsorption was studied at different temperatures. It could be demonstrated that the comparison of the thermodynamic adsorption parameters can be used to determine the reversibility of the adsorption process. In summary, the detailed investigation of the different factors helps to understand the involved processes of protein adsorption and provides useful tools for future investigations.