A systematic study of the impact of aromatic/aliphatic amines and protein corona as coatings of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles on the interaction with DPPC Langmuir monolayers

Abstract

The nature of chemical groups exposed by nanoparticles determines their interaction with biological systems, especially with cell membranes. Amino groups are one of the most used to guide nanoparticles within cells. Aromatic and aliphatic amines can establish different types of interactions with lipids, and this may condition the nanoparticles´ mode of action as well as their fate. This work is focused on investigating how aromatic and aliphatic amines present at the surface of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles influence their interaction with Langmuir monolayers as models of cell membranes. For this, we synthesized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles coated with an arylamine (aromatic) and polyethylenimine (aliphatic). Also, the effect of human serum albumin at the particle surface was evaluated to test how protein corona governs the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles. The interaction of these nanoparticles with monolayers of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine was systematically studied employing three different experimental approaches. The results signal a notorious influence on the type of amine in the interactions established with the phosphocholine in the model membrane. Managing this knowledge is of ongoing interest for nanomaterials design and improved bioapplications.