Protein binding to particle surfaces determines intracellular interaction and uptake kinetics

摘要

People are exposed to nanoparticles from varying sources and in many ways. The goal of our research is to simplify this diverse problem by establishing a systematic understanding of the properties of particles that determine the course of cellular interactions. We characterize the motions of particles within cells for two surface chemistries and find that the main determinants of their behavior are (1) protein binding to the particle surface and (2) manner of introduction as it determines the subcellular location; free in cytoplasm or contained in vesicles. In uptake studies, particles with very different surface charge show similar binding of proteins from the extracellular environment and similar kinetics of association and uptake by endothelial cells. Taken together, this suggests that protein binding irrespective of surface chemistry is the major factor determining particle-cell interactions.