Characterization and Biomedical Application Opportunities of the Nanoparticle's Protein Corona

Abstract Nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in a variety of biomedical fields, such as drug delivery systems, novel theragnostic strategies, bioimaging, and biosensing. The protein corona formed by the contact between NPs and biological liquids changes the physicochemical nanoparticle characteristics, including size, shape, and surface statement. Moreover, it affects the biological fate of NPs in organisms, for instance, pharmacokinetic processes and therapeutical efficacy. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively identify and quantify the properties of the nanoparticle protein corona. This review focuses on screening the milestones and latest advances of the protein corona, the interaction between NPs and the protein corona, the detection and characterization of the protein corona, and the application of the protein corona in biomedicine. The application section mainly includes three aspects: 1) novel NPs targeting design based on protein corona; 2) personalized protein corona powered precision medicine by integrating multiple strategies, i.e., proteomics and computer science; and 3) opportunities for protein coronas in nanomedicine applications. Collectively, these summaries reveal the significance of the protein corona in nanomedicine and highlight the challenges of studying protein coronas based on nanoparticle properties.