Manipulation of protein corona for nanomedicines

Nanomedicines have significantly advanced the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for various diseases, while they still encounter numerous challenges. Upon entry into the human body, nanomedicines interact with biomolecules to form a layer of proteins, which is defined as the protein corona that influences the biological properties of nanomedicines. Traditional approaches have primarily focused on designing stealthy nanomedicines to evade biomolecule adsorption; however, due to the intricacies of the biological environment within body, this method cannot completely prevent biomolecule adsorption. As research on the protein corona progresses, manipulating the protein corona to modulate the in vivo behaviors of nanomedicines has become a research focus. In this review, modern strategies focused on influencing the biological efficacy of nanomedicines in vivo by manipulating protein corona, along with their wide-ranging applications across diverse diseases are critically summarized, highlighted and discussed. Finally, future directions for this important yet challenging research area are also briefly discussed. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus-Based Structures.