On the growth of the soft and hard protein corona of mesoporous silica particles with varying morphology

Inga Kuschnerus, Kalpeshkumar Giri, Juanfang Ruan, Yanan Huang, Nicholas Bedford, Alfonso Garcia-Bennett*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
43 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The characterization of the protein corona has become an essential part of understanding the biological properties of nanomaterials. This is also important in the case of mesoporous silica particles intended for use as drug delivery excipients. A combination of scattering, imaging and protein characterization techniques is used here to assess the effect of particle shape and growth of the reversible (soft) and strongly bound (hard) corona of three types mesoporous silica particles with different aspect ratios. Notable differences in the protein composition, surface coverage and particle agglomeration of the protein corona-particle complex point to specific protein adsorption profiles highly dependent on exposed facets and aspect ratio. Spherical particles form relatively homogeneous soft and hard protein coronas (approx.10 nm thick) with higher albumin content. In contrast to rod-shaped and faceted particles, which possess soft coronas weakly bound to the external surface and influenced to a greater extent by the particle morphology. These differences are likely important contributors to observed changes in biological properties, such as cell viability and immunological behaviour, with mesoporous silica particle shape.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)467-478
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Volume612
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Apr 2022

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