Site-Specific Antibody Assembly on Nanoparticles via a Versatile Coating Method for Improved Cell Targeting

Antibody-nanoparticle conjugates are promising candidates for precision medicine. However, developing a controllable method for conjugating antibodies to nanoparticles without compromising the antibody activity represents a critical challenge. Here, a facile and generalizable film-coating method is presented using zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) to immobilize antibodies on various nanoparticles in a favorable orientation for enhanced cell targeting. Different model and therapeutic antibodies (e.g., Herceptin) are assembled on nanoparticles via a biomineralized film-coating method and exhibited high antibody loading and targeting efficiencies. Importantly, the antibodies selectively bind to ZIF-8 via their Fc regions, which favorably exposes the functional Fab regions to the biological target, thus improving the cell targeting ability of antibody-coated nanoparticles. In combination, molecular dynamics simulations and experimental studies on antibody immobilization, orientation efficiency, and biofunctionality collectively demonstrate that this versatile site-specific antibody conjugation method provides effective control over antibody orientation and leads to improved cell targeting for a variety of nanoparticles.