Protein corona: challenges and opportunities for targeted delivery of nanomedicines

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Targeted drug delivery has been widely explored as a promising way to improve the performance of nanomedicines. However, protein corona formed on the nano-surface represents a major issue that has great impacts on the in vivo fate of targeting nanomedicines, which has been overlooked in the past. With the increasing understanding of protein corona in the recent decade, many efforts have been made to improve targeting efficacy.

Areas covered

In this review, we briefly summarize insights of targeted delivery systems inspired by protein corona, and discuss the promising strategies to regulate protein corona for better targeting.

Expert opinion

The interaction between nanomedicines and endogenous proteins brings great uncertainty and challenges, but it also provides great opportunities for the development of targeting nanomedicines at the same time. With increasing understanding of protein corona, the strategies to regulate protein corona pave new avenues for the development of targeting nanomedicines.

KEYWORDS:

• Targeted drug delivery
• nanomedicines
• ligands
• plasma proteins
• protein corona

Article highlights

• Targeted drug delivery has been widely explored as a promising way to improve the performance of nanomedicines.

• Protein corona represents a major issue for targeting nanomedicines as most of common traditional targeting ligands are challenged with protein corona, causing sub-optimal biodistribution of nanomedicines.

• Stealthy coatings provide a way to decrease the adsorption of undesired plasma proteins.

• Manipulating the interplay between plasma proteins and targeting nanomedicines can be a feasible means to achieve better targeted delivery.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82125035, 81973245) and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Major Project (2021-01-07-00-07-E00081).