Limited impact of the protein corona on the cellular uptake of PEGylated zein micelles by melanoma cancer cells

Meewan, J. et al. (2022) Limited impact of the protein corona on the cellular uptake of PEGylated zein micelles by melanoma cancer cells. Pharmaceutics, 14(2), e439. (doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14020439) (PMID:35214171) (PMCID:PMC8877401)

Abstract

The formation of a protein layer “corona” on the nanoparticle surface upon entry into a biological environment was shown to strongly influence the interactions with cells, especially affecting the uptake of nanomedicines. In this work, we present the impact of the protein corona on the uptake of PEGylated zein micelles by cancer cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Zein was successfully conjugated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of varying chain lengths (5K and 10K) and assembled into micelles. Our results demonstrate that PEGylation conferred stealth effects to the zein micelles. The presence of human plasma did not impact the uptake levels of the micelles by melanoma cancer cells, regardless of the PEG chain length used. In contrast, it decreased the uptake by macrophages and dendritic cells. These results therefore make PEGylated zein micelles promising as potential drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: P.L. and S.S. are respectively funded by research grants from Worldwide Cancer Research [grant number 16–1303] and The Dunhill Medical Trust [grant number R463/0216]. A.R.A. is in receipt of a Ph.D. studentship from the Saudi Cultural Bureau and Umm Al-Qura University (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McGill, Mrs Suzanne and Burchmore, Dr Richard and Weidt, Dr Stefan and Mullin, Mrs Margaret

Creator Roles

Mullin, M.: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation
McGill, S.: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation
Weidt, S.: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation
Burchmore, R.: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation

• Authors: Meewan, J., Somani, S., Laskar, P., Irving, C., Mullin, M., Woods, S., Roberts, C. W., Alzahrani, A. R., Ferro, V. A., McGill, S., Weidt, S., Burchmore, R., and Dufès, C.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Pharmaceutics
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-4923
• ISSN (Online): 1999-4923
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 by the authors
• First Published: First published in Pharmaceutics 14(2):e439
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence