Revisiting the conformational state of albumin conjugated to gold nanoclusters: A self-assembly pathway to giant superstructures unraveled.

ABSTRACT: Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is often employed as a proteinaceous component for synthesis of luminescent protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters (AuNC): intriguing systems with many potential applications. Typically, the formation of BSA-AuNC conjugate occurs under strongly alkaline conditions. Due to the sheer complexity of intertwined chemical and structural transitions taking place upon BSA-AuNC formation, the state of albumin enveloping AuNCs remains poorly characterized. Here, we study the conformational properties of BSA bound to AuNCs using an array of biophysical tools including vibrational spectroscopy, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and trypsin digestion. The alkaline conditions of BSA-AuNC self-assembly appear to be primary responsible for the profound irreversible dis

SUBMITTER: Kluz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6597083 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature