Enrichment of immunoregulatory proteins in the biomolecular corona of nanoparticles within human respiratory tract lining fluid

Upon inhalation nanoparticles depositing in the respiratory tract lining fluid (RTLF) become coated with a biomolecular corona. We used quantitative proteomics to characterize the protein coronas of two inhaled nanomaterials: silicon dioxide (SiO2) and poly(vinyl) acetate (PVAc) nanoparticles and show that immune functional proteins are selectively enriched on the particle surface. We further compared the corona formed in RTLF with that obtained in human plasma to show that they are significantly different; implying that studying corona formation in plasma may be of limited value in predicting nanoparticle interactions at the air-lung interface.200