Journal
BIOCONJUGATE CHEMISTRY
Volume 30, Issue 9, Pages 2469-2480Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00549
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Florida State University
- National Science Foundation (NSF-CHE) [1508501]
- AFOSR [FA9550-18-1-0144]
- Asahi-Kasei
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Nonspecific interactions in biological media can lead to the formation of a protein corona around nanocolloids, which tends to alter their behavior and limit their effectiveness when used as probes for imaging or sensing applications. Yet, understanding the corona buildup has been challenging. We hereby investigate these interactions using luminescent quantum dots (QDs) as a model nanocolloid system, where we carefully vary the nature of the hydrophilic block in the surface coating, while maintaining the same dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) bidentate coordinating motif. We first use agarose gel electrophoresis to track changes in the mobility shift upon exposure of the QDs to protein-rich media. We find that QDs capped with DHLA (which presents a hydrophobic alkyl chain terminated with a carboxyl group) promote corona formation, in a concentration-dependent manner. However, when a polyethylene glycol block or a zwitterion group is appended onto DHLA, it yields a coating that prevents corona buildup. Our results clearly confirm that nonspecific interactions with protein-rich media are strongly dependent on the nature of the hydrophilic motif used. Additional gel experiments using SDS-PAGE have allowed further characterization of the corona protein, and showed that mainly a soft corona forms around the DHLA-capped QDs. These findings will be highly informative when designing nanocolloids that can find potential use in biological applications.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available