Ordered nanoparticle arrays formed on engineered chaperonin protein templates.
Traditional methods for fabricating nanoscale arrays are usually based on lithographic techniques. Alternative new approaches rely on the use of nanoscale templates made of synthetic or biological materials. Some proteins, for example, have been used to form ordered two-dimensional arrays. Here, we fabricated nanoscale ordered arrays of metal and semiconductor quantum dots by binding preformed nanoparticles onto crystalline protein templates made from genetically engineered hollow double-ring structures called chaperonins. Using structural information as a guide, a thermostable recombinant chaperonin subunit was modified to assemble into chaperonins with either 3 nm or 9 nm apical pores surrounded by chemically reactive thiols. These engineered chaperonins were crystallized into two-dimensional templates up to 20 microm in diameter. The periodic solvent-exposed thiols within these crystalline templates were used to size-selectively bind and organize either gold (1.4, 5 or 10nm) or CdSe-ZnS semiconductor (4.5 nm) quantum dots into arrays. The order within the arrays was defined by the lattice of the underlying protein crystal. By combining the self-assembling properties of chaperonins with mutations guided by structural modelling, we demonstrate that quantum dots can be manipulated using modified chaperonins and organized into arrays for use in next-generation electronic and photonic devices.
McMillan
R Andrew
RA
NASA Ames Research Center, Center for Nanotechnology and Astrobiology Technology Branch, Mail Stop 239-15, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA. amcmillan@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Paavola
Chad D
CD
Howard
Jeanie
J
Chan
Suzanne L
SL
Zaluzec
Nestor J
NJ
Trent
Jonathan D
JD
D018833:Chaperonins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003460:Crystallization; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D036103:Nanotechnology; D010316:Particle Size; D015202:Protein Engineering; D012666:Semiconductors
D018833:Chaperonins