Browsing by Subject "protein adsorption"

Cells release different types of phospholipid bilayer-limited vesicles into the extracellular space. These are commonly referred to as extracellular vesicles (EVs). Exosomes (EXOs), ca 50-100 nm in diameter and microvesicles (MVs), ca 100-1000 nm in diameter, having different intracellular origin, are the two main subpopulations of EVs. EVs have been demonstrated to carry a range of proteins and nucleic acids subsequently delivered to recipient cells, making them attractive as drug delivery vehicles. Several mechanisms for the cellular uptake of EVs have been established. When a nanoparticle is introduced into blood plasma, plasma proteins are adsorbed to its surface, forming a protein corona. The formation of the corona is a dynamic process, governed by individual protein concentrations as well as their respective affinities for the surface. Proteins of the corona interact with surrounding cells, thus being able to influence the cellular uptake of the nanoparticle. In the current study, the uptake of PC-3-derived EVs into PC-3 cells was investigated. Moreover, the impact of a human blood plasma-derived protein corona on said uptake was assessed. EVs were isolated from collected PC-3 cell culture medium using differential centrifugation. Experiments were performed separately for MVs (20000xg EV-fraction) and EXOs (110000xg EVfraction). SDS-PAGE analysis revealed adsorption of plasma proteins to EVs, following their exposure to plasma. Prior to uptake experiments DiO-labelled EVs were either incubated or not incubated in plasma. Plasma incubation lasted overnight. PC-3 cells were then treated with either of the two EV-preparations. Following incubation, EV uptake was assessed using confocal microscopy by determining the percentage of positive fluorescent cells in cell cultures. Pre-study plasma incubation resulted in a reduced or unchanged uptake of MVs and in a reduced uptake of EXOs, when compared to their native counterparts. In conclusion, the plasma-derived protein corona was shown not to improve EV uptake. It is worth noting that the current study limits itself to the use of PC-3-derived EVs and PC-3 cells as recipient cells in uptake experiments.