Chapter 30 - Protein corona: challenges and opportunities for cancer therapy

Abstract

Albeit nanoparticle (NP)-based therapeutics have gained immense recognition in recent years and extensive research has been conducted in this field, very few nanomedicines have been successfully translated into the clinical phase. This could be due to the altered performance of NPs in biological media in vivo. Absorption of biomolecules in biological media by NPs leads to protein corona formation, which modulates the biological performance of NPs and hence attenuates their desired therapeutic effects. Intrinsic physicochemical properties of NPs are determinative of corona formation and its composition. On the other hand, extrinsic parameters such as biological fluid characteristics are also fundamental in determining protein corona composition. Protein corona determines the sustainability and performance of NPs in drug loading, releasing, and cancer cell targeting. This chapter primarily discusses the challenges of utilizing NPs, the effect of protein corona on nanomedicine performance in cancer therapy, and opportunities to improve nanomedicine performance by protein corona engineering. Ultimately, personalized protein corona and its applications in cancer screening and diagnosis as a promising opportunity will be discussed.