title: Mapping protein binding sites on the biomolecular corona of nanoparticles.
abstract: Nanoparticles in a biological milieu are known to form a sufficiently long-lived and well-organized 'corona' of biomolecules to confer a biological identity to the particle. Because this nanoparticle-biomolecule complex interacts with cells and biological barriers, potentially engaging with different biological pathways, it is important to clarify the presentation of functional biomolecular motifs at its interface. Here, we demonstrate that by using antibody-labelled gold nanoparticles, differential centrifugal sedimentation and various imaging techniques it is possible to identify the spatial location of proteins, their functional motifs and their binding sites. We show that for transferrin-coated polystyrene nanoparticles only a minority of adsorbed proteins exhibit functional motifs and the spatial organization appears random, which is consistent, overall, with a stochastic and irreversible adsorption process. Our methods are applicable to a wide array of nanoparticles and can offer a microscopic molecular description of the biological identity of nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Åberg
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Polo
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cookman
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Željka
authors.initials: Ž
authors.lastname: Krpetić
authors.affiliation: Centre for BioNano Interactions, School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dawson
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites / Q000502:physiology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D014168:Transferrin
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D011137:Polystyrenes; D011506:Proteins; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D014168:Transferrin; D006046:Gold