Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 2: Membranes and Vesicles I

BP 2.12: Talk

Monday, March 18, 2024, 12:45–13:00, H 2032

Understanding the Interface of Plastic Nanoparticles and Biomimetic Cell Membranes — •Una Janke, Emma Weilbeer, Wanda Levin, Norman Geist, and Mihaela Delcea — Institut für Biochemie, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 4, 17489 Greifswald

Plastics and the release of polymeric particles into the environment is a burning issue, not least because plastic nanoparticles (NPs) are potentially harmful to both the surrounding and human health. As soon as they enter the body, NPs have contact to various biological fluids (e.g. blood) and with cell membranes containing different types of lipids and numerous membrane proteins. To understand the complex interaction of NPs with the cellular interface, we have chosen a representative model system comprising of the commonly used plastic polystyrene and an artificial biomimetic membrane containing the platelet receptor integrin αIIbβ3 which undergoes conformational dynamics, e.g. in the presence of manganese ions. The combination of biophysical methods, such as dynamic-light-scattering, enabled the characterisation of the protein corona around the polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) with different surface charges and its stability over time. Moreover, the interaction of the PS-NPs with the engineered biomimetic membranes was analysed by quartz-crystal-microbalance and the results were confirmed by cell interaction analyses and molecular dynamic simulations studies. Our results reveal that protein corona formation prevents unspecific binding of PS-NPs to membranes, whereas the absence of corona induces surface charge-dependent aggregation of PS-NPs, as well as strong binding to model cell membranes.

Keywords: Plastic Nanoparticles; Biomimetic Membranes; Proteoliposomes; Integrin alphaIIb beta 3; Quartz-Crystal Microbalance