纳米材料-蛋白质界面相互作用的分子机制

纳米材料由于其优异的性能在化工、电子、机械、环境、能源、航天等各个领域已经得到了广泛的应用,并且在生物医学方面的应用越来越受到重视。纳米材料-蛋白质界面相互作用是纳米生物医学领域重要的科学问题,对于纳米材料的生物医学应用以及生物安全性评价至关重要。蛋白质分子与纳米材料在界面的相互作用,一方面可以诱导蛋白质的构象、组装结构甚至功能的改变,另一方面可以引起纳米材料的表面亲疏水性、电荷性质等表面物理化学性质的改变。基于蛋白质与纳米材料相互作用检测技术及结果,本文从分子水平阐述了纳米材料与蛋白质分子在界面之间的相互作用机理及相应的结构与性质的变化,从而可以深化对两者之间复杂的相互作用机制的理解,对于推进纳米材料在生物医学的应用及健康、安全、持续发展具有重要意义。

Molecular Mechanisms of Interface Interactions between Nanomaterials and Proteins

Nanomaterials have excellent properties and have been used widely in chemical engineering, electronics, mechanics, environment, energy, aerospace, and many other fields in recent years. Besides, nanomaterials have attracted increasing attention in the biomedical field. The interactions between nanomaterials and protein molecules are not only significant to the basic science of the biomedical field, but also crucial for the evaluation of biomedical applications and biosafety of nanomaterials. The interfacial interactions between proteins and nanomaterials could induce a series of changes to the structures and functions of proteins, such as the transformation of protein conformations, and the modulation of aggregation states, which would influence the functions of the protein molecules. Interfacial interactions can also influence the physicochemical features of nanomaterials, including morphology, size, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, and surface charge density. In this review we explained the molecular level mechanisms for the interactions between nanomaterials and proteins at the interface based on the detection technologies, and discussed the changes in physical and chemical features, structures, and functions. We envision this review could be helpful for the deeper understanding of the complicated interactions between nanomaterials and proteins, and could be beneficial for promoting the healthy, safe, and sustainable development and application of nanomaterials in the biological and medical fields.