Yadav Pooja, Rethinasabapathy Muruganantham, Dhiman Diksha, Choi Yu Jung, Huh Yun Suk, Venkatesu Pannuru
Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India.
NanoBio High-Tech Materials Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2025 Apr 21;8(4):3279-3289. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.5c00068. Epub 2025 Apr 8.
Taking the potential applications of two-dimensional transition metal carbides, such as MXenes, in biomedical fields, it is crucial to explore the impact of MXenes on various blood proteins. The study of the interaction of these 2D materials with proteins is scarce. Owing to the potential of absorbing proteins on the MXene surface, it is crucial to investigate the biocompatibility of these materials with proteins . In this regard, we successfully investigated the biomolecular interactions between hemoglobin (Hb) and single-layered titanium carbide (TiCT-SL), multilayered titanium carbide (TiCT-ML), and multilayered vanadium carbide (VCT-ML) MXenes for protein-MXene corona formation. The conformational, thermal, and colloidal stabilities of Hb were investigated after exposing MXenes to Hb for 30 min at Hb/MXene ratios of 12:1, 10:1, 8:1, and 6:1 using a combination of spectroscopic techniques, electron microscopy, and thermodynamic stability studies. Our results reveal that Hb adsorption onto MXene surfaces is primarily driven by electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding, leading to significant changes in the secondary and tertiary structures of the protein and further disruption in the colloidal stability of Hb. Explicitly, the hierarchy of interactions between Hb and MXenes follows the order: TiCT-SL > VCT-ML > TiCT-ML. The morphological study of Hb with MXenes was studied through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Further, it was found that at high loading concentrations that is above 8:1, the protein-corona formation tendency of Hb-MXene also increases. The biological and toxicological behavior of nanomaterials (NMs) is based on the effect of their interaction with proteins, which induces conformational changes in proteins and subsequently alters their biological functions. In this regard, this article provides important insights for using these MXenes biomedically and for the rational design of nanoproducts based on MXenes in the near future.
考虑到二维过渡金属碳化物（如MXenes）在生物医学领域的潜在应用，探索MXenes对各种血液蛋白质的影响至关重要。关于这些二维材料与蛋白质相互作用的研究很少。由于MXene表面具有吸附蛋白质的潜力，研究这些材料与蛋白质的生物相容性至关重要。在这方面，我们成功研究了血红蛋白（Hb）与单层碳化钛（TiCT-SL）、多层碳化钛（TiCT-ML）和多层碳化钒（VCT-ML）MXenes之间的生物分子相互作用，以形成蛋白质-MXene冠层。在Hb/MXene比例为12:1、10:1、8:1和6:1的条件下，将MXenes与Hb暴露30分钟后，结合光谱技术、电子显微镜和热力学稳定性研究，对Hb的构象、热稳定性和胶体稳定性进行了研究。我们的结果表明，Hb在MXene表面的吸附主要由静电相互作用和氢键驱动，导致蛋白质的二级和三级结构发生显著变化，并进一步破坏Hb的胶体稳定性。具体而言，Hb与MXenes之间相互作用的层次顺序为：TiCT-SL > VCT-ML > TiCT-ML。通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）和原子力显微镜（AFM）对Hb与MXenes进行了形态学研究。此外，发现当负载浓度高于8:1时，Hb-MXene的蛋白质冠层形成趋势也会增加。纳米材料（NMs）的生物学和毒理学行为基于其与蛋白质相互作用的影响，这种相互作用会诱导蛋白质构象变化，进而改变其生物学功能。在这方面，本文为在生物医学中使用这些MXenes以及在不久的将来基于MXenes合理设计纳米产品提供了重要的见解。
