Surface Modifications of Nanoparticles for Stability in Biological Fluids

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Due to the high surface: volume ratio and the extraordinary properties arising from the nanoscale (optical, electric, magnetic, etc.), nanoparticles (NPs) are excellent candidates for multiple applications. In this context, nanoscience is opening a wide range of modern technologies in biological and biomedical fields, among others. However, one of the main drawbacks that still delays its fast evolution and effectiveness is related to the behavior of nanomaterials in the presence of biological fluids. Unfortunately, biological fluids are characterized by high ionic strengths which usually induce NP aggregation. Besides this problem, the high content in biomacromolecules—such as lipids, sugars, nucleic acids and, especially, proteins—also affects NP stability and its viability for some applications due to, for example, the formation of the protein corona around the NPs. Here, we will review the most common strategies to achieve stable NPs dispersions in high ionic strength fluids and, also, antifouling strategies to avoid the protein adsorption.

Related collections

Most cited references 143

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Quantum dot bioconjugates for ultrasensitive nonisotopic detection.

W Chan, S Nie (1998)

Highly luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (zinc sulfide-capped cadmium selenide) have been covalently coupled to biomolecules for use in ultrasensitive biological detection. In comparison with organic dyes such as rhodamine, this class of luminescent labels is 20 times as bright, 100 times as stable against photobleaching, and one-third as wide in spectral linewidth. These nanometer-sized conjugates are water-soluble and biocompatible. Quantum dots that were labeled with the protein transferrin underwent receptor-mediated endocytosis in cultured HeLa cells, and those dots that were labeled with immunomolecules recognized specific antibodies or antigens.

0 comments Cited 710 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Nanoparticle size and surface properties determine the protein corona with possible implications for biological impacts.

Martin Lundqvist, Johannes Stigler, Giuliano Elia … (2008)

Nanoparticles in a biological fluid (plasma, or otherwise) associate with a range of biopolymers, especially proteins, organized into the "protein corona" that is associated with the nanoparticle and continuously exchanging with the proteins in the environment. Methodologies to determine the corona and to understand its dependence on nanomaterial properties are likely to become important in bionanoscience. Here, we study the long-lived ("hard") protein corona formed from human plasma for a range of nanoparticles that differ in surface properties and size. Six different polystyrene nanoparticles were studied: three different surface chemistries (plain PS, carboxyl-modified, and amine-modified) and two sizes of each (50 and 100 nm), enabling us to perform systematic studies of the effect of surface properties and size on the detailed protein coronas. Proteins in the corona that are conserved and unique across the nanoparticle types were identified and classified according to the protein functional properties. Remarkably, both size and surface properties were found to play a very significant role in determining the nanoparticle coronas on the different particles of identical materials. We comment on the future need for scientific understanding, characterization, and possibly some additional emphasis on standards for the surfaces of nanoparticles.

0 comments Cited 688 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Aptamers as therapeutics

Anthony Keefe, Supriya Pai, Andrew Ellington (2010)

Key Points Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that fold into defined architectures and bind to targets such as proteins. In binding proteins they often inhibit protein–protein interactions and thereby may elicit therapeutic effects such as antagonism. Aptamers are discovered using SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment), a directed in vitro evolution technique in which large libraries of degenerate oligonucleotides are iteratively and alternately partitioned for target binding. They are then amplified enzymatically until functional sequences are identified by the sequencing of cloned individuals. For most therapeutic purposes, aptamers are truncated to reduce synthesis costs, modified at the sugars and capped at their termini to increase nuclease resistance, and conjugated to polyethylene glycol or another entity to reduce renal filtration rates. The first aptamer approved for a therapeutic application was pegaptanib sodium (Macugen; Pfizer/Eyetech), which was approved in 2004 by the US Food and Drug Administration for macular degeneration. Eight other aptamers are currently undergoing clinical evaluation for various haematology, oncology, ocular and inflammatory indications. Aptamers are ultimately chemically synthesized in a readily scalable process in which specific conjugation points are introduced with defined stereochemistry. Unlike some protein therapeutics, aptamers do not elicit antibodies, and because aptamers generally contain sugars modified at their 2′-positions, Toll-like receptor-mediated innate immune responses are also abrogated. As aptamers are oligonucleotides they can be readily assembled into supramolecular multi-component structures using hybridization. Owing to the fact that binding to appropriate cell-surface targets can lead to internalization, aptamers can also be used to deliver therapeutic cargoes such as small interfering RNA. Supramolecular assemblies of aptamers and delivery agents have already been demonstrated in vivo and may pave the way for further therapeutic strategies with this modality in the future.

0 comments Cited 609 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Materials (Basel)

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Materials (Basel)

Journal ID (publisher-id): materials

Title: Materials

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 1996-1944

Publication date (Electronic): 06 July 2018

Publication date Collection: July 2018

Volume: 11

Issue: 7

Electronic Location Identifier: 1154

Affiliations

[1 ]Departamento de Quimica Fisica e Inorganica and EMaS, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Carrer de Marcel•lí Domingo s/n, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; luca.guerrini@ 123456urv.cat

[2 ]Institución Catalana de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain

Author notes

[* ]Correspondence: ramon.alvarez@ 123456urv.cat (R.A.A.-P.); nicolas.pazos@ 123456urv.cat (N.P.-P.)

Author information

Nicolas Pazos-Perez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2326-4231

Article

Publisher ID: materials-11-01154

DOI: 10.3390/ma11071154

PMC ID: 6073273

PubMed ID: 29986436

SO-VID: ea7d2fd2-2ac4-4ecf-b2b8-390880ad137e

License:

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Surface Modifications of Nanoparticles for Stability in Biological Fluids

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Quaternary ammonium surfactants as nanoparticles against infection

Most cited references 143

Quantum dot bioconjugates for ultrasensitive nonisotopic detection.

Nanoparticle size and surface properties determine the protein corona with possible implications for biological impacts.

Aptamers as therapeutics

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Author information

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 66

Cited by 121

Most referenced authors 3,047