Short-Chain Alkanethiol Coating for Small-Size Gold Nanoparticles Supporting Protein Stability
نویسندگان
چکیده
The application of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is emerging in many fields, raising the need for a systematic investigation on their safety. In particular, for biomedical purposes, a relevant issue are certainly AuNP interactions with biomolecules, among which proteins are the most abundant ones. Elucidating the effects of those interactions on protein structure and on nanoparticle stability is a major task towards understanding their mechanisms at a molecular level. We investigated the interaction of the 3-mercaptopropionic acid coating of AuNPs (MPA-AuNPs) with β2-microglobulin (β2m), which is a paradigmatic amyloidogenic protein. To this aim, we prepared and characterized MPA-AuNPs with an average diameter of 3.6 nm and we employed NMR spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy to probe protein structure perturbations. We found that β2m interacts with MPA-AuNPs through a highly localized patch maintaining its overall native structure with minor conformational changes. The interaction causes the reversible precipitation of clusters that can be easily re-dispersed through brief sonication.
منابع مشابه
Gold nanoparticles: calixarene complexation in a mixed calixarene–alkanethiol monolayer†
This paper describes a detailed study on the complexation of pyridinium derivatives with calixarenes bound to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The studied calixarene derivatives are mixed with alkanethiols to formmixed monolayers on AuNP surfaces. The key findings are: (i) even a small amount (less than 11 mol%) of calixarenes can retain their complexation abilities among a majority of alkanethiols ...
متن کاملEncapsulation of gold nanoparticles into self-assembling protein nanoparticles
BACKGROUND Gold nanoparticles are useful tools for biological applications due to their attractive physical and chemical properties. Their applications can be further expanded when they are functionalized with biological molecules. The biological molecules not only provide the interfaces for interactions between nanoparticles and biological environment, but also contribute their biological func...
متن کاملMicellization and Single-Particle Encapsulation with Dimethylammoniopropyl Sulfobetaines
Sulfobetaines (SBs) are a class of zwitterionic surfactants with a reputation for enhancing colloidal stability at high salt concentrations. Here, we present a systematic study on the self-assembly of SB amphiphiles (sultaines or hydroxysultaines) in aqueous solutions, as a function of chain length and composition, ionic strength, and in the presence of alkanethiol-coated Au nanoparticles (GNPs...
متن کاملEngineering microencapsulation of highly catalytic gold nanoclusters for an extreme thermal stability.
A synthetic strategy for the microencapsulation of ultra-small gold nanoparticles toward the development of a novel nanoreactor is reported. In this case, it is shown that the catalytic activity of Au nanoclusters as small as 0.8 nm remains unaffected after a thermal treatment up to 800 °C in air. This is accomplished through the deposition and further coating of the gold nanoparticles in a voi...
متن کاملExtraction of Au nanoparticles having narrow size distributions from within dendrimer templates.
Here, we show that Au nanoparticles having diameters of less than 2.2 nm can be extracted from within the interior of PAMAM dendrimers using n-alkanethiol extractants. Extraction proceeds quickly, regardless of the size of the nanoparticle, the dendrimer generation, or the peripheral functionalization of the dendrimer. The extraction rate is fastest for the lowest generation dendrimers, the sma...
متن کامل