title: Sizing nanomaterials in bio-fluids by cFRAP enables protein aggregation measurements and diagnosis of bio-barrier permeability.
abstract: Sizing nanomaterials in complex biological fluids, such as blood, remains a great challenge in spite of its importance for a wide range of biomedical applications. In drug delivery, for instance, it is essential that aggregation of protein-based drugs is avoided as it may alter their efficacy or elicit immune responses. Similarly it is of interest to determine which size of molecules can pass through biological barriers in vivo to diagnose pathologies, such as sepsis. Here, we report on continuous fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (cFRAP) as a analytical method enabling size distribution measurements of nanomaterials (1-100 nm) in undiluted biological fluids. We demonstrate that cFRAP allows to measure protein aggregation in human serum and to determine the permeability of intestinal and vascular barriers in vivo. cFRAP is a new analytical technique that paves the way towards exciting new applications that benefit from nanomaterial sizing in bio-fluids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.|Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ranhua
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Inflammation Research Center, VIB, Ghent 9052, Belgium.|Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Roosmarijn E
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8327-620X
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Vandenbroucke
authors.affiliation: Anabiotec nv, Evergem 9940, Belgium.
authors.forename: Katleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Broos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.|Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Toon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brans
authors.affiliation: Inflammation Research Center, VIB, Ghent 9052, Belgium.|Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Elien
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Wonterghem
authors.affiliation: Inflammation Research Center, VIB, Ghent 9052, Belgium.|Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Libert
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Demeester
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefaan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: De Smedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.|Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Braeckmans