Proteins are delicate but it is still possible to make well-defined nanoparticles from them
Traditional methods for fabricating protein particles tend to produce particles with a wide range of sizes. Moreover, proteins are easily damaged or denatured by most of the methods that are used to pattern biological materials, so until now there has been no method for making protein particles that offers control over their shape and size. However, Jennifer Kelly and Joseph DeSimone of the University of North Carolina have developed a method1 called PRINT (particle replication in non-wetting templates) that can do just that.
The PRINT process begins with a silicon template, which is etched with a pattern of nanosized features. This is used to make a polymer mould, and the cavities created by the template are filled with an aqueous protein solution. The mould is then freeze-dried to remove the water, leaving a two-dimensional array of protein particles that can be removed from the mould.
Kelly and DeSimone have used the technique to generate pure insulin and albumin particles as well as albumin particles that contain therapeutic cargos. The technique could also, they say, be applied to many other proteins.
References
Kelly, J. Y. & DeSimone, J. M. Shape-specific, monodisperse nano-molding of protein particles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 10.1021/ja8014428 (2008).
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Portman, R. Proteins in print. Nature Nanotech (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.106
