Institute for Materials Research (IMO), Hasselt University, Wetenschapspark 1 and Agoralaan D, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, University Medical Center, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
Macromol Biosci. 2018 Sep;18(9):e1800075. doi: 10.1002/mabi.201800075. Epub 2018 Jun 25.
It is now well-established that the surface chemistry and "stealth" surface functionalities such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains of nanocarriers play an important role to decrease unspecific protein adsorption of opsonizing proteins, to increase the enrichment of specific stealth proteins, and to prolong the circulation times of the nanocarriers. At the same time, PEG chains are used to provide colloidal stability for the nanoparticles. However, it is not clear how the chain length and density influence the unspecific and specific protein adsorption keeping at the same time the stability of the nanoparticles in a biological environment. Therefore, this study aims at characterizing the protein adsorption patterns depending on PEG chain length and density to define limits for the amount of PEG needed for a stealth effect by selective protein adsorption as well as colloidal stability during cell experiments. PEG chains are introduced using the PEGylated Lutensol AT surfactants, which allow easy modification of the nanoparticle surface. These findings indicate that a specific enrichment of stealth proteins already occurs at low PEG concentrations; for the decrease of unspecific protein adsorption and finally the colloidal stability a full surface coverage is advised.
现在已经证实，纳米载体的表面化学性质和“隐形”表面功能，如聚（乙二醇）（PEG）链，对于降低非特异性蛋白质的吸附、增加特异性隐形蛋白质的富集以及延长纳米载体的循环时间起着重要作用。同时，PEG 链用于为纳米粒子提供胶体稳定性。然而，目前尚不清楚链长和密度如何影响非特异性和特异性蛋白质的吸附，同时保持纳米粒子在生物环境中的稳定性。因此，本研究旨在根据 PEG 链长和密度来表征蛋白质吸附模式，以确定通过选择性蛋白质吸附以及细胞实验期间的胶体稳定性来实现隐形效果所需的 PEG 量的限制。PEG 链是使用 PEGylated Lutensol AT 表面活性剂引入的，这使得纳米粒子表面的修饰变得容易。这些发现表明，在低 PEG 浓度下已经发生了特异性隐形蛋白质的富集；为了减少非特异性蛋白质的吸附，最终实现胶体稳定性，建议完全覆盖表面。
