Web Release Date: June 9,
Unfolding of Ribonuclease A on Silica Nanoparticle Surfaces
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Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Department of Biology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
Received April 2, 2007
Revised May 15, 2007
Abstract:
This paper reports on the unfolding behavior of ribonuclease A (RNase A) on silica nanoparticle surfaces and quantitively demonstrates that nanoscale size and surface curvature play key roles in influencing the stability of adsorbed proteins. Urea denaturation analyses showed that the thermodynamic stability of RNase A decreased upon adsorption onto the nanoparticles, with greater decrease on larger nanoparticles. The stability changes of RNase A correlate well with the changes in the protein-nanoparticle interactions, which increase as the surface contact area and surface charge interaction increases. This study, therefore, provides fundamental information on the effect of nanoscale surfaces on protein structure and function.
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