# Nano-response: Immune stimulation, microbiome perturbation, and impacts from protein corona

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2020 · $215,954

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The increasing trend in human exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) calls for interdisciplinary
researches to assess the biological impacts from nanomaterials and discover the fundamental factors that
contribute to such impacts. We hypothesize that, the surface and other physicochemical properties of
engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) affect adsorption of biomolecules like proteins, and the corona formed by
the adsorbed biomolecules subsequently mediate interaction with biological systems. To test this hypothesis,
our integrated study carried out by a team of chemists, immunologists, and environmental engineers will look
at the effects of these interactions on activation of inflammatory and immune responses in tissues, as well as
the effect on the dynamic microbial community in the gut. Our focus will be mainly on the interactions between
environmental ENMs and mucosal tissues such as the airways and gut, where individuals will first encounter
the ENMs; consequently, cellular interactions will also focus on lung alveolar macrophages and epithelium,
intestinal epithelium, and mucosal immune tissues. We will also study the effects of chronic exposure on
tissues in vivo using an environmental chamber. Three specific aims are incorporated into our research
program: (1) To generate and characterize the corona-bearing ENMs for in vitro and in vivo study and dissect
the relationship between corona formation and ENM's physicochemical properties; (2) To acquire the in vitro
and in vivo toxicity and immune response profiles induced by corona-carrying ENMs and determine the impact
of sub-chronic and chronic exposure to inhaled ENMs on cell and tissue responses to antigen; and (3) To
analyze impacts from the corona-carrying ENMs on gut microbiomes. Our work will identify the protein
fingerprints of the coronas formed in the exposure-relevant biological fluids, discover the correlation between
corona composition and a collection of ENM properties, and reveal the biological responses from cells, tissues,
and mice to the corona-carrying ENMs. Together, we will provide an integrated and comprehensive view of the
biological and health impacts of nanomaterials in our environment. The long term goal of our work is to deliver
knowledge that could help to predict the biological impacts of ENMs by their physicochemical properties.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10018898
- **Project number:** 5U01ES027293-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Wenwan Zhong
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $215,954
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10018898

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10018898, Nano-response: Immune stimulation, microbiome perturbation, and impacts from protein corona (5U01ES027293-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10018898. Licensed CC0.

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