Investigation of the interaction between protein coronas and biomolecules

胶体纳米颗粒周围的蛋白质层，称为“蛋白质冠”，是当它们进入生命系统时形成的。蛋白质冠状结构的形成机制有待进一步阐明，以利于纳米粒的安全开发。本研究分别以碳纳米管和带电同聚肽为纳米粒子和蛋白质模型，研究了蛋白质冠状结构的形成机理。结果表明，聚精氨酸与碳纳米管的结合力很强，这表明蛋白质的精氨酸残基在碳纳米管的蛋白质冠形成中具有关键作用。机理的见解也可以适用于其他纳米粒子与芳香族部分。

The protein layners around colloidal nanoparticles, known as "protein corona", are formed when they are taken in living systems. The mechanism of the protein corona formation should be elucidated for safe development of the nanoparticles. In this study, protein corona formation mechanism was investigated using carbon nanotubes and charged homopolypeptides as models of nanoparticles and proteins, respectively. It was found that polyarginines were strongly bound to the carbon nanotubes, which suggests that arginine residues of proteins have a critical role in the protein corona formation of carbon nanotubes. The mechanistic insights can also be applied to other nanoparticles with aromatic moieties.