title: Electron microscopy imaging of proteins on gallium phosphide semiconductor nanowires.
abstract: We have imaged GaP nanowires (NWs) incubated with human laminin, serum albumin (HSA), and blood plasma using both cryo-transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron based X-ray photoemission electron microscopy. This extensive imaging methodology simultaneously reveals structural, chemical and morphological details of individual nanowires and the adsorbed proteins. We found that the proteins bind to NWs, forming coronas with thicknesses close to the proteins' hydrodynamic diameters. We could directly image how laminin is extending from the NWs, maximizing the number of proteins bound to the NWs. NWs incubated with both laminin and HSA show protein coronas with a similar appearance to NWs incubated with laminin alone, indicating that the presence of HSA does not affect the laminin conformation on the NWs. In blood plasma, an intermediate sized corona around the NWs indicates a corona with a mixture of plasma proteins. The ability to directly visualize proteins on nanostructures in situ holds great promise for assessing the conformation and thickness of the protein corona, which is key to understanding and predicting the properties of engineered nanomaterials in a biological environment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. anders.mikkelsen@sljus.lu.se.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hjort
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Protein Science, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Protein Science, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gunnarsson
authors.affiliation: Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. anders.mikkelsen@sljus.lu.se.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mårsell
authors.affiliation: The MAX-IV Laboratory, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alexei A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zakharov
authors.affiliation: nCHREM/Centre for Analysis and Synthesis, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gunnel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Protein Science, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sanfins
authors.affiliation: Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christelle N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Prinz
authors.affiliation: nCHREM/Centre for Analysis and Synthesis, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Reine
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wallenberg
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Protein Science, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cedervall
authors.affiliation: Division of Synchrotron Radiation Research, Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. anders.mikkelsen@sljus.lu.se.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen
mesh_terms: D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D005708:Gallium / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007797:Laminin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D010720:Phosphines / Q000737:chemistry*; D012666:Semiconductors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007797:Laminin; D010720:Phosphines; D012709:Serum Albumin; C485338:gallium phosphide; D006046:Gold; D005708:Gallium