Blood compatibility of nanomaterials

Nanoparticles and other nanomaterials are increasingly used as drug carriers for targeted delivery. When administered intravenously they interact with the blood in a variety of ways that are detrimental to the delivery function, including protein adsorption, platelet activation, coagulation, complement activation, and hemolysis. Research on the blood compatibility of “macro-materials” for the construction of medical devices such as vascular grafts and stents has been intensive and extensive over many years; yet problems in particular coagulation-thrombosis remain unsolved. Work on nanomaterials is less extensive and the problems are at once somewhat different and somewhat the same for the two scales. The main issue for nanomaterials, typically nanoparticles, is the rapid formation of a protein coating or “corona,” which masks the surface of the particles, nullifying the specific function for which they were designed, and priming them for premature elimination. In this chapter, the literature on blood compatibility on both scales is reviewed. In the case of nanomaterials, emphasis is placed on the protein corona, its composition, and methods to suppress its formation.