title: The effect of the serum corona on interactions between a single nano-object and a living cell.
abstract: Nanoparticles (NPs) which enter physiological fluids are rapidly coated by proteins, forming a so-called corona which may strongly modify their interaction with tissues and cells relative to the bare NPs. In this work the interactions between a living cell and a nano-object, and in particular the effect on this of the adsorption of serum proteins, are directly examined by measuring the forces arising as an Atomic Force Microscope tip (diameter 20 nm) - simulating a nano-object - approaches and contacts a cell. We find that the presence of a serum protein corona on the tip strongly modifies the interaction as indicated by pronounced increase in the indentation, hysteresis and work of adhesion compared to a bare tip. Classically one expects an AFM tip interacting with a cell surface to be repelled due to cell elastic distortion, offset by tip-cell adhesion, and indeed such a model fits the bare-tip/cell interaction, in agreement with earlier work. However, the force plots obtained with serum-modified tips are very different, indicating that the cell is much more compliant to the approaching tip. The insights obtained in this work may promote better design of NPs for drug delivery and other nano-medical applications.
authors.affiliation: Materials and Interfaces Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.|Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dror
authors.affiliation: Materials and Interfaces Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Raya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sorkin
authors.affiliation: Materials and Interfaces Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.affiliation: University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boubriak
authors.affiliation: University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urban
authors.affiliation: Materials and Interfaces Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.|Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D002417:Cattle; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D061251:Primary Cell Culture
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins