Dynamic Protein Corona of Gold Nanoparticles with an Evolving Morphology

Much
has been learned about the protein coronae and their biological
implications within the context of nanomedicine and nanotoxicology.
However, no data is available about the protein coronae associated
with nanoparticles undergoing spontaneous surface-energy minimization,
a common phenomenon during the synthesis and shelf life of nanomaterials.
Accordingly, here we employed gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) possessing
the three initial states of spiky, midspiky, and spherical shapes
and determined their acquisition of human plasma protein coronae with
label-free mass spectrometry. The AuNPs collected coronal proteins
that were different in abundance, physicochemical parameters, and
interactive biological network. The size and structure of the coronal
proteins matched the morphology of the AuNPs, where small globular
proteins and large fibrillar proteins were enriched on spiky AuNPs,
while large proteins were abundant on spherical AuNPs. Furthermore,
the AuNPs induced endothelial leakiness to different degrees, which
was partially negated by their protein coronae as revealed by confocal
fluorescence microscopy, in vitro and ex
vivo transwell assays, and signaling pathway assays. This
study has filled a knowledge void concerning the dynamic protein corona
of nanoparticles possessing an evolving morphology and shed light
on their implication for future nanomedicine harnessing the paracellular
pathway.