Bibliometric landscape of the researches on protein corona of nanoparticles

Abstract

Unclear biological fate hampers the clinical translation of nanoparticles for biomedical uses. In recent years, it is documented that the formation of protein corona upon nanoparticles is a critical factor leading to the ambiguous biological fate. Efforts have been made to explore the protein corona forming behaviors on nanoparticles, and rearrangement of the relevant studies will help to understand the current trend of such a topic. In this work, the publications about protein corona of nanoparticles in Science Citation Index Expanded database of Web of Science from 2007 to 2020 (1417 in total) were analyzed in detail, and the bibliometrics landscape of them was showcased. The basic bibliometrics characteristics were summarized to provide an overall understanding. Citation analysis was performed to scrutinize the peer interests of these papers. The research hotspots in the field were evaluated, based on which some feasible topics for future studies were proposed. In general, the results demonstrated that protein corona of nanoparticles was a prospective research area, and had attracted global research interests. It was believed that this work could comprehensively highlight the bibliometrics landscape, inspire further exploitation on protein corona of nanoparticles, and ultimately promote the clinical translation of nanoparticles.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

protein corona / nanoparticle / bibliometrics / Web of Science

References

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Authors’ contribution

Zhengwei Huang: bibliometric analysis and manuscript writing; Fangqin Fu: database searching, tables and illustration preparation; Linjing Wu: data washing, screening and processing; Wenhao Wang, Wenhua Wang and Chaonan Shi: software, file assorting and manuscript formatting; Ying Huang and Xin Pan: conceptualization, funding acquisition and manuscript polishing; Chuanbin Wu: supervision and proof-reading.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 82073774.

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