Particles adsorb proteins when they enter a physiological environment; this results in a surface coating termed a "protein corona". A protein corona can affect both the properties and functionalities of engineered particles. Here, we prepared hyaluronic acid (HA)-based capsules through the assembly of metal-phenolic networks (MPNs) and engineered their targeting ability in the absence and presence of protein coronas by varying the HA molecular weight. The targeting ability of the capsules was HA molecular weight dependent, and a high HA molecular weight (>50 kDa) was required for efficient targeting. The specific interactions between high molecular weight HA capsules and receptor-expressing cancer cells were negligibly affected by the presence of protein coronas, whereas nonspecific capsule-cell interactions were significantly reduced in the presence of a protein corona derived from human serum. Consequently, the targeting specificity of HA-based MPN capsules was enhanced due to the formation of a protein corona. This study highlights the significant and complex roles of a protein corona in biointeractions and demonstrates how protein coronas can be used to improve the targeting specificity of engineered particles.
Keywords: cell targeting; hyaluronic acid; polymer capsules; polyphenols; protein corona.