Formation of a biocompatible protein corona on magnetic nanoparticles

When exposing nanomaterials, e.g. superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), to the peripheral blood, a protein corona consisting of various components is formed immediately. The composition of the corona as well as their amount bound to the particle surface is dependent on different factors, e.g. particle size and surface charge [1,2]. The actual composition of the formed protein corona might be of major importance for cellular uptake of magnetic nanoparticles [3, 4]. The aim of our experiments is to analyze the formation of the protein corona during in vitro serum incubation and to investigate the biocompatibility of such coated SPIONs.