Unveiling protein corona formation around self-propelled enzyme nanomotors by nanoscopy

The interaction of nanoparticles with biological media is a topic of general interest for drug delivery systems and among those for active nanoparticles, also called nanomotors. Herein, we report the use of super resolution microscopy, in particular, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM), to characterize the formation of a protein corona around active enzyme-powered nanomotors. First, we characterized the distribution and number of enzymes on nano-sized particles and characterized their motion capabilities. Then, we incubated the nanomotors with fluorescently labelled serum proteins. Interestingly, we observed a significant decrease of protein corona formation (20%) and different composition, which was studied by proteomic analysis. Moreover, motion was not hindered, as nanomotors displayed enhanced diffusion regardless of the protein corona. Elucidating how active particles interact with biological media and maintain their self-propulsion after protein corona formation will pave the way for the use of these systems in complex biological fluids in biomedicine. The interaction of self-propelled nanomotors with biological media is of outmost relevance when considering their actuation within biological contexts. Here, we explored how protein corona forms around active nanomotors using STORM.

Automated summary

This study characterized the formation of a protein corona around enzyme-powered nanomotors using super resolution microscopy STORM. The results showed a significant decrease and different composition of the protein corona formation, but did not hinder the motion capabilities of the nanomotors.