Although growing rapidly, the understanding of the behavior of nanomedicines in vivo is limited. To expand our knowledge base, we are currently investigating the behavior of protein-conjugated gold nanoparticles in protein-rich environments, modeling conditions within the human body. Here, we investigate the type and quantity of proteins that form the hard corona around gold nanoparticles with various stealth coatings. In addition, we test the stability of these gold nanoparticles in the presence of proteins found within human serum. Although gold nanoparticles are resistant to oxidative corrosion, the incorporation of stealth-coatings, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or poly-EK (PEK), increases biocompatibility, biodistribution and physiological half-life of the AuNP. We evaluate the protein resistance of two types of polymer coatings: methoxy-terminated PEG (MPEG) and PEK. To probe protein resistance, we synthesized AuNPs coated with MPEG or PEK and then characterized with UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta-potential to monitor size, charge, and aggregation. The hard corona is then evaluated by incubating each type of coated AuNPs with various concentrations of human serum. Through several washes and digestion, the hard corona can be elucidated by HPLC/MS-MS, UV-Vis, DLS, and various other biochemical techniques. The stability of the AuNPs in biological serums can also be analyzed through ICP-OES. We found that type and quantity of proteins composing the hard corona differs by stealth-coating. We will also report on preliminary studies that analyze the hard corona formed on nanoparticle conjugated with biomolecules like antibodies. These and others results will be presented.

Investigating the hard corona of novel nano-vehicles in model biological fluids

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.