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. 2020 Jul 21;10(45):27161–27172. doi: 10.1039/d0ra05241h

Summary of the mechanism of protein corona formation on different NPs.

Nanoparticle type Protein source Mechanism of protein corona formation Ref.
Sulfonate and carboxyl-polystyrene NPs Transferrin and blood plasma Exchange of transferrin from the soft corona layer in the presence of different concentration of blood plasma 22
Polystyrene NPs Cellulase enzyme mixture Vroman effect showing displacement of proteins along with transient complex formation 23
Oil-in-water emulsion Human plasma No displacement of proteins was observed. Apolipoproteins were dominantly present in the corona component 25
Citrate capped gold NPs Ubiquitin A combinatorial effect of NPs electrostatic potential, surface coating and slow reorientation of the NPs to find ubiquitin's specific binding site promotes corona formation 27
Citrate-capped gold NPs with PEG coating Human plasma No competitive displacement of proteins were observed. Quantitative variation in bound protein due to surface coating was observed 28
Metal oxide NPs (TiO2, SiO2, ZnO) Human plasma No typical Vroman effect was observed. Shape of the NPs played important role in adsorption of particular class of proteins 29
Ultrasmall supermagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIO) Plasma No typical Vroman effect was observed. An increase in the amount of immunoglobin and fibrinogen was observed for longer incubation time points 32