Synthesis of Patient-Specific Nanomaterials

Nanoparticles
are engineered from materials such as metals, polymers,
and different carbon allotropes that do not exist within the body.
Exposure to these exogenous compounds raises concerns surrounding
toxicity, inflammation, and immune activation. These responses could
potentially be mitigated by synthesizing nanoparticles directly from
molecules derived from the host. However, efforts to assemble patient-derived
macromolecules into structures with the same degree of size and shape
tunability as their exogenous counterparts remains a significant challenge.
Here we solve this problem by creating a new class of size- and shape-tunable
personalized protein nanoparticles (PNP) made entirely from patient-derived
proteins. PNPs are built into different sizes and shapes with the
same degree of tunability as gold nanoparticles. They are biodegradable
and do not activate innate or adaptive immunity following single and
repeated administrations in vivo. PNPs can be further
modified with specific protein cargos that remain catalytically active
even after intracellular delivery in vivo. Finally,
we demonstrate that PNPs created from different human patients have
unique molecular fingerprints encoded directly into the structure
of the nanoparticle. This new class of personalized nanomaterial has
the potential to revolutionize how we treat patients and can become
an integral component in the diagnostic and therapeutic toolbox.