Abstract
Advances in recent nanoscience technologies have generated a new compilation of fluorescent biolabels derived from semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). Due to their properties of being water-soluble and biocompatible, these nanometer-sized probes prove to be a beneficial tool for biolabeling and bioimaging. We report on the molecular characterization of engineered bioconjugates comprised of highly luminescent dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) capped CdSe/ZnS (core/shell) QDs attached to the native protein hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) and/or its fibrous analogue. This research focuses on the development of a specific fluorescent labeling system and exploration of fibril formation. We confirmed the bioconjugation and formation of the HEWL-QDs and HEWL-QDs fibril model systems by various analytical techniques including agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE), confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Uv-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. These bioconjugates could prove to be a potentially useful application in nanobiotechnology as a bioimaging tool and as a reference for a controlled biological self-assembly process.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 766-773 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry C |
| Volume | 114 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 21 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Energy(all)
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films