The aim of this project is to characterize the molecular buildup of protein coronas on nanoparticles and to clarify the role of corona proteins in the aggregation of nanoparticles in complex matrices, using state-of-art DNA-assisted protein technologies. The focus of the project will be on nanoparticles relevant for diagnostic purposes, where molecular recognition is effectuated by affinity-reagents and the nanoparticles are used for target enrichment and signal generation.
The findings generated from the proposed project will be of great importance in developing nanoparticle-based biosensing technologies for POCT devices, which reduces the turn-around times to the physician, resulting in faster treatment decisions, giving improved workflows and improving the quality of care . The opportunities to perform testing in less expensive settings such as the doctor's office, home of patients, or even through remote control will improve the accessibility of care, reduce overall healthcare costs, and improve the personalization of treatment. Since 2010, the FP7 and H2020 calls for proposals have included personalised medicine as one of the research priorities and a number of topics have made specific reference to personalised medicine approaches, showing the importance attached to the area. With the help of TU/e Innovation Lab and the collaboration with Philips Research, the outcome of the findings can be further translated to potential industrial products, which will further benefit the European society.
The objectives of the action will be:
• Investigate protein corona formation on nanoparticles in parallel: The identity of proteins will be converted to DNA by tagging plasma proteins and affinity reagents with functional DNA tags (WP1).
• Investigate dynamics of the protein corona formation by mild crosslinking (WP2): The rapid exchange of molecules in the soft corona on the nanoparticles can be studied by crosslinking them to the hard corona and the nanoparticle surface at different time points.
• Corona proteins together with affinity reagents will be investigated in three biosensing configurations that are important in diagnostic assays (WP3): The interactions between affinity reagents and targets, between affinity reagents and corona proteins, and between different corona proteins, will be measured by ligated DNA tags.
