Electrophoresis-Based Approach for Characterizing Dendrimer–Protein Interactions: A Proof-of-Concept Study
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Improving the clinical translation of nanomedicine requires better knowledge about how nanoparticles interact with biological environments. As researchers are recognizing the importance of understanding the protein corona and characterizing how nanocarriers respond in biological systems, new tools and techniques are needed to analyze nanocarrier-protein interactions, especially for smaller size (<10 nm) nanoparticles like polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers. Here, we developed a streamlined, semiquantitative approach to assess dendrimer-protein interactions using a nondenaturing electrophoresis technique combined with mass spectrometry. With this protocol, we detect fluorescently tagged dendrimers and proteins simultaneously, enabling us to analyze when dendrimers migrate with proteins. We found that PAMAM dendrimers mostly interact with complement proteins, particularly C3 and C4a, which aligns with previously published data, verifying that our approach can be used to isolate and identify dendrimer-protein interactions.
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Ford Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
OpenAlex ID: W4396949111