Role of bovine serum albumin and humic acid in the interaction between SiO2nanoparticles and model cell membranes.
Silica nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) can cause health hazard after their release into the environment. Adsorption of natural organic matter and biomolecules on SiO2NPs alters their surface properties and cytotoxicity. In this study, SiO2NPs were treated by bovine serum albumin (BSA) and humic acid (HA) to study their effects on the integrity and fluidity of model cell membranes. Giant and small unilamellar vesicles (GUVs and SUVs) were prepared as model cell membranes in order to avoid the interference of cellular activities. The microscopic observation revealed that the BSA/HA treated (BSA-/HA-) SiO2NPs took more time to disrupt membrane than untreated-SiO2NPs, because BSA/HA adsorption covered the surface SiOH/SiO-groups and weakened the interaction between NPs and phospholipids. The deposition of SiO2NPs on membrane was monitored by a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). Untreated- and HA-SiO2NPs quickly disrupted the SUV layer on QCM-D sensor; BSA-SiO2NPs attached on the membranes but only caused slow vesicle disruption. Untreated-, BSA- and HA-SiO2NPs all caused the gelation of the positively-charged membrane, which was evaluated by the generalized polarity values. HA-SiO2NPs caused most serious gelation, and BSA-SiO2NPs caused the least. Our results demonstrate that the protein adsorption on SiO2NPs decreases the NP-induced membrane damage.
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China.
Xiaoran
X
Wei
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Xiaolei
X
Qu
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China.
Lei
L
Ding
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China.
Jingtian
J
Hu
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China. Electronic address: jiangw@sdu.edu.cn.
Wei
W
Jiang
D000327:Adsorption; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D006812:Humic Substances; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D013499:Surface Properties
D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006812:Humic Substances; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
Bovine serum albumin; Humic acid; Membrane disruption; Membrane gelation; Silica nanoparticles