Nanoparticles Induce Protein Corona Conformational Change to Reshape Intracellular Interactome for Microglial Polarization

Abstract

Nanoparticles bind to proteins in cells selectively and form a protein corona around them. However, the mechanisms of protein conformational changes underlying the interactions between nanoparticles and protein coronas remain poorly understood. In this study, we prepared small molecule self-assembled nanoparticles (Aloin NPs) as a research tool to investigate the allosteric mechanism of protein coronas. Aloin NPs showed a propensity to capture multiple proteins in cells. In particular, Aloin NPs specifically bound to myotrophin (MPTN) as a major protein corona through a multivalent hydrogen bond-mediated nanoprotein interface. Molecular modeling and hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (MS) demonstrated that Aloin NPs promoted a conformational rearrangement of MPTN via a ‘finger-unclasping’ pattern. We then adapted the APEX2 proximity labeling strategy to investigate the conformation-dependent changes in the MPTN interactome and identified peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) as a key substrate protein of MPTN in microglia. Additionally, we observed that MPTN conformational change-dependent PRDX6 release protected the mitochondrial membrane by reducing reactive oxygen species. Consequently, Aloin NPs effectively inhibited the release of mitochondrial DNA to block the downstream cGAS-STING signaling pathway, thereby reprogramming microglial polarization. In translational medicine, Aloin NPs play a role in protecting neurons from microglia-induced inflammatory injury with no significant adverse effects, ultimately improving Parkinson’s disease-associated symptoms. Taken together, our study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms by which nanoparticles regulate the conformational change of protein coronas for human disease therapy.