Nanoparticle Biomolecular Corona-Based Enrichment of Plasma Glycoproteins for N-Glycan Profiling and Application in Biomarker Discovery

Biomolecular corona formation has emerged as a recurring and important phenomenon in nanomedicine that has been investigated for potential applications in disease diagnosis. In this study, we have combined the personalized protein corona with the N-glycosylation profiling that has recently gained considerable interest in human plasma biomarker discovery as a powerful early warning diagnostic and patient stratification tool. We envisioned that the protein corona formation could be exploited as an enrichment step that is critically important in both proteomic and proteoglycomic workflows. By using silica nanoparticles, plasma fibrinogen was enriched to a level in which its proteomic and glycomic fingerprints could be traced with confidence. Despite being a more simplified glycan profile compared to full plasma, the corona glycan profile revealed a fibrinogen-derived glycan peak that was found to potentially distinguish lung cancer patients from controls in a pilot study.

Automated summary

Biomolecular corona formation is an important phenomenon in nanomedicine that has potential applications in disease diagnosis. This study combined personalized protein corona with N-glycosylation profiling to serve as an early warning diagnostic and patient stratification tool. Enrichment of plasma fibrinogen using silica nanoparticles allowed for confident tracing of both proteomic and glycomic fingerprints. The corona glycan profile revealed a potential fibrinogen-derived glycan peak that could distinguish lung cancer patients from controls in a pilot study.