Insights into Characterization Methods and Biomedical Applications of Nanoparticle-Protein Corona

• Published in: Materials Vol. 13; no. 14; p. 3093
• Main Authors: Li, Yan, Lee, Jae-Seung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.07.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adsorption; Binding sites; biomedical application; Biomedical materials; characterization; Coronas; Foreign exchange rates; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Physiology; protein corona; Proteins; Review; nanoparticles; biomedical application; characterization; protein corona
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma13143093

Nanoparticles (NPs) exposed to a biological milieu will strongly interact with proteins, forming "coronas" on the surfaces of the NPs. The protein coronas (PCs) affect the properties of the NPs and provide a new biological identity to the particles in the biological environment. The characterization of NP-PC complexes has attracted enormous research attention, owing to the crucial effects of the properties of an NP-PC on its interactions with living systems, as well as the diverse applications of NP-PC complexes. The analysis of NP-PC complexes without a well-considered approach will inevitably lead to misunderstandings and inappropriate applications of NPs. This review introduces methods for the characterization of NP-PC complexes and investigates their recent applications in biomedicine. Furthermore, the review evaluates these characterization methods based on comprehensive critical views and provides future perspectives regarding the applications of NP-PC complexes.