Interaction of nanoparticles with endotoxin Importance in nanosafety testing and exploitation for endotoxin binding

Abstract

The interaction between engineered nanoparticles and the bacterial lipopolysaccharide, or endotoxin, is an event that warrants attention. Endotoxin is one of the most potent stimulators of inflammation and immune reactions in human beings, and is a very common contaminant in research labs. In nanotoxicology and nanomedicine, the presence of endotoxin on the nanoparticle surface affects their biological properties leading to misinterpretation of results. This review discusses the importance of detecting the endotoxin contamination on nanoparticles, focusing on the current method of endotoxin detection and their suitability for nanoparticulate materials. Conversely, the capacity of nanoparticles to bind endotoxin can be enhanced by functionalization with endotoxin-capturing molecules, opening the way to the development of novel endotoxin detection assays.

Keywords:

• Nanoparticles
• endotoxin
• inflammation
• LPS sensors
• SERS

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

The authors aknowledge DiSTABiF and Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli that coordinates the PhD program of AV.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The authors were supported by the EU H2020 grants ENDONANO [GA 812661] and PANDORA [GA 671881], the IG grant [21420] of the Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), the project NeON [ARS01_00769] of the Program PRIN, and the projects CIRO- Campania Infrastructure for Research in Oncology and PLATT of the Programma Operativo Regionale of Regione Campania [POR FERS 2014/2020].