Guankui Wang

Complement proteins bind to nanoparticle protein corona and undergo dynamic exchange in vivo

When nanoparticles are intravenously injected into the body, complement proteins deposit on the surface of nanoparticles in a process called opsonization. These proteins prime the particle for removal by immune cells and may contribute toward infusion-related adverse effects such as allergic responses. The ways complement proteins assemble on nanoparticles have remained unclear. Here, we show that dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide core-shell nanoworms incubated in human serum and plasma are rapidly opsonized with the third complement component (C3) via the alternative pathway. Serum and plasma proteins bound to the nanoworms are mostly intercalated into the nanoworm shell. We show that C3 covalently binds to these absorbed proteins rather than the dextran shell and the protein-bound C3 undergoes dynamic exchange in vitro. Surface-bound proteins accelerate the assembly of the complement components of the alternative pathway on the nanoworm surface. When nanoworms pre-coated with human plasma were injected into mice, C3 and other adsorbed proteins undergo rapid loss. Our results provide important insight into dynamics of protein adsorption and complement opsonization of nanomedicines.

Modulatory Role of Surface Coating of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoworms in Complement Opsonization and Leukocyte Uptake

Notwithstanding rapid advances of nanotechnology in diagnostic imaging and drug delivery, the engineered nanocarriers still exhibit substantial lack of hemocompatibility. Thus, when injected systemically, nanoparticles are avidly recognized by blood leukocytes and platelets, but the mechanisms of immune recognition are not well understood and strategies to mitigate these phenomena remain underexplored. Using superparamagnetic dextran iron oxide (SPIO) nanoworms (NWs) we demonstrate an efficient and predominantly complement-dependent uptake by mouse lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytes from normal and tumor bearing mice in vitro. Following intravenous injection into wild type mice, blood leukocytes as well as platelets became magnetically labeled, while the labeling was decreased by 95% in complement C3-deficient mice. Using blood cells from healthy and cancer patient donors, we demonstrated that neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes and eosinophils took up SPIO NWs, and the uptake was prevented by EDTA (a general complement inhibitor) and by antiproperdin antibody (an inhibitor of the alternative pathway of the complement system). Cross-linking and hydrogelation of SPIO NWs surface by epichlorohydrin decreased C3 opsonization in mouse serum, and consequently reduced the uptake by mouse leukocytes by more than 70% in vivo. Remarkably, the cross-linked particles did not show a decrease in C3 opsonization in human serum, but showed a significant decrease (over 60%) of the uptake by human leukocytes. The residual uptake of cross-linked nanoparticles was completely blocked by EDTA. These findings demonstrate species differences in complement-mediated nanoparticle recognition and uptake by leukocytes, and further show that human hemocompatibility could be improved by inhibitors of complement alternative pathway and by nanoparticle surface coating. These results provide important insights into the mechanisms of hemocompatibility of nanomedicines.

High-relaxivity superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoworms with decreased immune recognition and long-circulating properties

One of the core issues of nanotechnology involves masking the foreignness of nanomaterials to enable in vivo longevity and long-term immune evasion. Dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are very effective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, and strategies to prevent immune recognition are critical for their clinical translation. Here we prepared 20 kDa dextran-coated SPIO nanoworms (NWs) of 250 nm diameter and a high molar transverse relaxivity rate R2 (∼400 mM(-1) s(-1)) to study the effect of cross-linking-hydrogelation with 1-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane (epichlorohydrin) on the immune evasion both in vitro and in vivo. Cross-linking was performed in the presence of different concentrations of NaOH (0.5 to 10 N) and different temperatures (23 and 37 °C). Increasing NaOH concentration and temperature significantly decrease the binding of anti-dextran antibody and dextran-binding lectin conconavalin A to the NWs. The decrease in dextran immunoreactivity correlated with the decrease in opsonization by complement component 3 (C3) and with the decrease in the binding of the lectin pathway factor MASP-2 in mouse serum, suggesting that cross-linking blocks the lectin pathway of complement. The decrease in C3 opsonization correlated with the decrease in NW uptake by murine peritoneal macrophages. Optimized NWs demonstrated up to 10 h circulation half-life in mice and minimal uptake by the liver, while maintaining the large 250 nm size in the blood. We demonstrate that immune recognition of large iron oxide nanoparticles can be efficiently blocked by chemical cross-linking-hydrogelation, which is a promising strategy to improve safety and bioinertness of MRI contrast agents.

In Vitro and In Vivo Differences in Murine Third Complement Component (C3) Opsonization and Macrophage/Leukocyte Responses to Antibody-Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoworms

Balancing surface functionalization and low immune recognition of nanomedicines is a major challenge. Opsonization with the third component of the complement protein (C3) plays a major role in immune cell recognition of nanomedicines. We used dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoworms (SPIO NWs) to study the effect of surface functionalization on C3 opsonization in mouse serum and subsequent macrophage/leukocyte recognition in vitro as well as on intravenous injection into mice. Previously, we found that in mouse serum, SPIO NWs became opsonized with C3 via complement lectin pathway. Crosslinking the dextran shell with epichlorohydrin significantly decreased C3 opsonization and uptake by mouse peritoneal macrophages. Crosslinked nanoworms (NWs) further functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) or with PEG-antibody (Ab) (~160 IgG molecules/particle) did not show an increase in C3 opsonization and peritoneal macrophage uptake in vitro. Following tail vein injection into mice, plain crosslinked NWs and PEGylated crosslinked NWs showed very low C3 opsonization and mouse leukocyte uptake. However, Ab-decorated crosslinked NWs showed significant C3 opsonization and high level of complement-dependent uptake by leukocytes in mice. Decreasing the number of conjugated Abs to 46 IgG molecules/particle significantly reduced C3 opsonization and leukocyte uptake. Using fresh mouse lepirudin plasma rather than serum showed better correlation with C3 opsonization in vivo. The reason for this difference could be related to the known instability of complement classical pathway in mouse sera. Our data illustrate that fine-tuning in nanoparticle surface functionalization with Abs is required to avoid excessive complement activation and complement-mediated immune uptake in mice, and raise issues with in vitro immunological assays of nanomedicines intended to mimic in vivo conditions.

Activation of Human Complement System by Dextran-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Is Not Affected by Dextran/Fe Ratio, Hydroxyl Modifications, and Crosslinking

While having tremendous potential as therapeutic and imaging tools, the clinical use of engineered nanoparticles has been associated with serious safety concerns. Activation of the complement cascade and the release of proinflammatory factors C3a and C5a may contribute to infusion-related reactions, whereas opsonization with C3 fragments promotes rapid recognition and clearance of nanomaterials by mononuclear phagocytes. We used dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIO), which are potent activators of the complement system, to study the role of nanoparticle surface chemistry in inciting complement in human serum. Using complement inhibitors and measuring levels of fluid phase markers (sC5b-9, C5a, and Bb), we found that the majority of human complement activation by SPIO is through the alternative pathways (AP). SPIO prepared with high dextran/iron ratio showed some complement activation via calcium-sensitive pathways, but the AP was responsible for the bulk of complement activation and amplification. Activation via the AP required properdin, the positive regulator of the alternative C3bBb convertase. Modification of sugar alcohols of dextran with alkylating, acylating, or crosslinking agents did not overcome complement activation and C3 opsonization. These data demonstrate that human complement activation is independent of dextran modification of SPIO and suggest a crucial role of the AP in immune recognition of nano-assemblies in human serum.

Revealing Dynamics of Accumulation of Systemically Injected Liposomes in the Skin by Intravital Microscopy

Accumulation of intravenously injected cytotoxic liposomes in the skin induces serious toxicity. We used single time point and longitudinal intravital microscopy to understand skin accumulation dynamics of non-PEGylated and PEGylated liposomes after systemic injection into mice. Non-PEGylated egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes showed short circulation half-life (1.3 h) and immediate aggregation in the blood, with some aggregates lodging in skin microvasculature soon after the injection. At 24 h, and more prominently at 48 h postinjection, liposomes appeared in dermal and subdermal cells. PEGylated egg PC liposomes showed long circulation half-life (22 h) and no aggregation in the blood. PEGylated liposomes started to accumulate in the skin microvasculature as soon as 5 min after the injection. Within 3 h postinjection, PEGylated liposomes accumulated in extravascular cells in the dermis and subdermis. Liposomes were present in the skin for at least 7 days postinjection. A regulatory approved PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin (LipoDox) and empty liposomes of the same composition as LipoDox showed similar skin distribution as PEGylated egg PC liposomes, suggesting that this phenomenon is relevant to liposomes of different lipid composition. Decorating liposomes with shorter PEGs (350 or 700) in addition to PEG 2000 did not decrease the deposition. Outside the capillaries, liposomes partially colocalized with CD45-, F4/80+ cells. The accumulation of liposomes was not due to prior neutrophil/platelet binding and transport across endothelium. Moreover, our studies have excluded a role of complement in the skin accumulation of liposomes. Further understanding of mechanisms of this important phenomenon can improve the safety of liposomal nanocarriers.

Variability of Complement Response toward Preclinical and Clinical Nanocarriers in the General Population

Opsonization (coating) of nanoparticles with complement C3 component is an important mechanism that triggers immune clearance and downstream anaphylactic and proinflammatory responses. The variability of complement C3 binding to nanoparticles in the general population has not been studied. We examined complement C3 binding to dextran superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoworms, SPIO NWs, 58 and 110 nm) and clinically approved nanoparticles (carboxymethyl dextran iron oxide ferumoxytol (Feraheme, 28 nm), highly PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin (LipoDox, 88 nm), and minimally PEGylated liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde, 120 nm)) in sera from healthy human individuals. SPIO NWs had the highest variation in C3 binding (n = 47) between subjects, with a 15-30 fold range in levels of C3. LipoDox (n = 12) and Feraheme (n = 18) had the lowest levels of variation between subjects (an approximately 1.5-fold range), whereas Onivyde (n = 18) had intermediate between-subject variation (2-fold range). There was no statistical difference between males and females and no correlation with age. There was a significant correlation in complement response between small and large SPIO NWs, which are similar structurally and chemically, but the correlations between SPIO NWs and other types of nanoparticles, and between LipoDox and Onivyde, were not significant. The calculated average number of C3 molecules bound per nanoparticle correlated with the hydrodynamic diameter but was decreased in LipoDox, likely due to the PEG coating. The conclusions of this study are (1) all nanoparticles show variability of C3 opsonization in the general population; (2) an individuals response toward one nanoparticle cannot be reliably predicted based on another nanoparticle; and (3) the average number of C3 molecules per nanoparticle depends on size and surface coating. These results provide new strategies to improve nanomedicine safety.

Isolation of Breast cancer CTCs with multitargeted buoyant immunomicrobubbles

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are extremely rare cells found in blood of metastatic cancer patients. There is a need for inexpensive technologies for fast enrichment of CTCs from large blood volumes. Previous data showed that antibody-conjugated lipid shell immuno-microbubbles (MBs) bind and isolate cells from biological fluids by flotation. Here, blood-stable MBs targeted to several surface markers for isolation of breast tumor cells were developed. MBs coated with anti-human EpCAM antibodies showed efficient binding of EpCAM+ breast cancer cell lines SKBR-3, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-453, whereas anti-human EGFR MBs showed binding of EpCAMLOW/NEGATIVE cell lines MDA-MB-231 and BT-549. Multitargeted anti-human EpCAM/EGFR MBs bound all cell lines with over 95% efficiency. Highly concentrated MB-bound tumor cells were collected in a microliter volume via an inverted vacuum-assisted harvesting setup. Using anti-EpCAM and/or anti-EpCAM/EGFR MBs, an efficient (70-90%) recovery and fast (30min) isolation of the above-mentioned cells and cell clusters was achieved from 7.5mL of spiked human blood. Using anti-EpCAM MBs and anti-EpCAM/EGFR MBs, cytokeratin-positive, CD45-negative CTCs were detected in 62.5% (10/16) of patients with metastatic breast cancer and CTC clusters were detected in 41.7% (5/12) of CTC-positive samples. Moreover, in some samples MBs isolated cytokeratin positive, CD45 negative tumor-derived microparticles. None of these structures were detected in blood from non-epithelial malignancies. The fast and inexpensive multitargeted platform for batch isolation of CTCs can promote research and clinical applications involving primary tumors and metastases.