Biomimetic synthesis and characterization of cobalt nanoparticles using apoferritin, and investigation of direct electron transfer of Co(NPs)–ferritin at modified glassy carbon electrode to design a novel nanobiosensor

Abstract

Oxyhydroxy cobalt CoO(OH) nanoparticles (Co-NPs) were prepared in horse spleen apoferritin (HsAFr) cavity. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the particle size was 5.5-6 nm. Mineralization effect on HsAFr was investigated by fluorescence and far-UV circular dichroism (far-UV CD) spectroscopies. The far-UV CD experiments indicated an increase in the α-helical content after mineralization. Intrinsic fluorescence data showed that mineralization acts as a quencher of HsAFr. For the first time, direct electron transfer between Co(NPs)-HsAFr and a glassy carbon electrode in the thin film of dihexadecylphosphate (DHP) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) to design a biosensor. The anionic surfactant DHP was used to achieve direct electron-transfer between Co(NPs)-HsAFr molecules and the GC electrode surface. CV result showed clearly a pair of well-defined and quasi-reversible redox peaks arise from Co(NPs)-HsAFr embedded in DHP film. This novel biosensor can be used in medical and industrial fields to detect different analytes.

Human ferritin for tumor detection and therapy

“…Ferritins can be conveniently mineralized or synthesized to produce many kinds of nanoparticles without disruption of the integrity of protein shells . By employing recombinant human H‐ferritin as a template, Douglas's group biomimetically synthesized a type of magnetic nanoparticle in 2006 .…”

Nanocontainer in der Analytik

“…[15] Sie existieren in einem weiten Grçßenbereich von 30-500 nm, [12] füra nalytische Anwendungen sind sie aber normalerweise kleiner als 400 nm. [49,[50][51][52] Ferritin ist kommerziell erhältlich und kann beispielsweise aus Pferdemilz, einigen menschlichen Organen, Pflanzen, Pilzen oder Bakterien isoliert werden. [15] Bei einem Bottom-up-Ansatz bilden sich die Vesikel durch Selbstorganisation von Blockcopolymeren, die aus einem [20,49] wobei das Letztgenannte in der Analytik am häufigsten zum Einsatz kommt.…”

Development and characterization of folic acid-functionalized apoferritin as a delivery vehicle for epirubicin against MCF-7 breast cancer cells

“…The apoferritin fluorescence spectra in the HsAFr, HsAFr-Epr and HsAFr-Epr-FA complexes were determined, as shown in Figure 2. Fluorescence emission spectra for HsAFr were recorded at 305-475 nm with the excitation wavelength set at 295 nm [38]. Trp fluorescence is more sensitive to protein conformational changes and gives information about alterations in secondary and tertiary structures, which makes it possible to investigate protein stability [39].…”