Protein–Nanoparticle Interactions
Iseult Lynch, Kenneth A. Dawson
Abstract
The key role of protein–nanoparticle interactions in nanomedicine and nanotoxicity has begun to emerge with the development of the idea of the nanoparticle–protein “corona.” An early study in the field of protein interactions with planar surfaces drew attention to the fact that distortion of the protein may occur upon adsorption. Proteins are chains of amino acids, where the exact sequence of the amino acids determines the protein’s shape, structure, and function. Amyloidogenic proteins are a group of proteins that aggregate under certain conditions to form highly insoluble structures, which precipitate to form plaques. Nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces offer a new route to study protein interactions, both protein-ligand and protein–protein. From the range of studies presented, it is clear that research into nanoparticle–protein interactions is a dynamic area but there is much still to be done.