Role of protein corona in the biological effect of nanomaterials: investigating methods

Abstract Growing developments in engineered nanomaterials (NMs) and their wide applications inevitably raise environmental and human health concerns. Upon contact with biological fluids, NMs can attract proteins onto their surfaces to form dynamic layers called protein corona. Such new biological identities are what the bio-systems “see” and react with. Formation of protein corona around NMs determines the biological behavior of NMs and the transformation patterns of proteins. Therefore, characterization of the protein corona on NMs' surface is the first step towards understanding the nature of NMs-mediated biological effects. In this review, the roles of protein corona in NMs' bio-application and biosafety were summarized, with an emphasis on methods for characterizing NMs-protein interactions and the dynamic biological identities. Moreover, we extrapolated the discussion to environmentally relevant nanoparticles (e.g. PM 2.5) and macromolecules, and discussed the possible methods and challenges for studying their interactions with proteins.