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Time-dependent, protein-directed growth of gold nanoparticles within a single crystal of lysozyme

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 93–97 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Gold nanoparticles are useful in biomedical applications due to their distinct optical properties and high chemical stability1,2,3,4,5. Reports of the biogenic formation of gold colloids from gold complexes has also led to an increased level of interest in the biomineralization of gold6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. However, the mechanism responsible for biomolecule-directed gold nanoparticle formation remains unclear due to the lack of structural information about biological systems and the fast kinetics of biomimetic chemical systems in solution. Here we show that intact single crystals of lysozyme can be used to study the time-dependent, protein-directed growth of gold nanoparticles. The protein crystals slow down the growth of the gold nanoparticles, allowing detailed kinetic studies to be carried out, and permit a three-dimensional structural characterization that would be difficult to achieve in solution. Furthermore, we show that additional chemical species can be used to fine-tune the growth rate of the gold nanoparticles.

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Figure 1: Time-dependent, protein-directed growth of gold nanoparticles in single crystals.
Figure 2: HAADF-STEM images of the three-dimensional distribution of gold nanoparticles within lysozyme single crystals.
Figure 3: Schematic of gold nanoparticle growth within a lysozyme single crystal.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation (CMMI 0749028 and DMR-0117792). The authors thank C. Lei and J. Wen for help with the (S)TEM imaging, L.A. Miller for the preparation of microtome samples and 75 kV TEM imaging, J. Soares for solid-state absorption spectroscopic measurements, M. Sardela for XRD measurements, and Y.-W. Lin, N.M. Marshall, S.-L. Tian, H.E. Ihms and K.-D. Miner for helpful discussions. J.Z. and J.M.Z. are supported by DOE DEFG02-01ER45923. S.H. and I.M.R. acknowledge support from the US Department of Energy (grant DE-FC36-05GO15064). (S)TEM experiments were carried out in part in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Facilities, University of Illinois.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Hui Wei, Limin Yang, Li Huey Tan, Hang Xing & Yi Lu

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Zidong Wang, Jiong Zhang, Stephen House, Ian M. Robertson, Jian-Min Zuo & Yi Lu

  3. George L. Clark X-Ray Facility and 3M Materials Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Yi-Gui Gao

  4. College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Sha Ping Ba Street 174, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Limin Yang & Changjun Hou

  5. Department of Biology, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, 11973, New York, USA

    Howard Robinson

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  1. Hui Wei
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Contributions

H.W., Z.W. and Y.L. designed the research. H.W., Z.W., J.Z., Y.-G.G., L.Y. and H.R. performed the research. H.W., Z.W., J.Z., S.H., Y.-G.G., L.Y., H.R., L.H.T., H.X., C.H., I.M.R., J.-M.Z. and Y.L. analysed the data. All authors co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Ian M. Robertson, Jian-Min Zuo or Yi Lu.

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Wei, H., Wang, Z., Zhang, J. et al. Time-dependent, protein-directed growth of gold nanoparticles within a single crystal of lysozyme. Nature Nanotech 6, 93–97 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.280

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