Surface plasmon resonance as a tool for investigation of non-covalent nanoparticle interactions in heterogeneous self-assembly & disassembly systems.
Biomolecule-driven assembly of nanoparticles is a powerful and convenient approach for development of advanced nanosensors and theranostic agents with diverse "on-demand" composition and functionality. While a lot of research is being devoted to fabrication of such agents, the development of non-invasive analytical tools to monitor self-assembly/disassembly processes in real-time substantially lags behind. Here, we demonstrate the capabilities of localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon to study non-covalent interactions not just between plasmonic particles, but between gold nanoparticles (AuNP) and non-plasmonic ones. We show its potential to investigate assembly and performance of a novel type of advanced smart materials, namely, biocomputing agents. These agents, self-assembled from nanoparticles via biomolecular interfaces such as proteins, DNA, etc., can analyze presence of biomolecular inputs according to Boolean logic and undergo the input-induced disassembly in order to implement the proper output action. Using UV-Vis spectroscopy to monitor the assembly/disassembly processes of the basic YES-gate structure that consists of a polymer core particle with a multitude of associated gold nanoparticles, we found that the structure transformations are well-characterized by pronounced difference in SPR spectral band position (shifting up to 50nm). This SPR shift correlates remarkably well with biochemical estimation of the assembly/disassembly extent, and can provide valuable real-time kinetic analysis. We believe that the obtained data can be easily extended to other non-plasmonic nanoparticle systems having similar chemical and colloidal properties. SPR method can become a valuable addition to analytical toolbox for characterization of self-assembled smart nanosystems used in biosensing, imaging, controlled release and other applications.
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), 9 Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia.
Konstantin G
KG
Shevchenko
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), 9 Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia.
Vladimir R
VR
Cherkasov
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), 9 Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia.
Andrey A
AA
Tregubov
Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Petr I
PI
Nikitin
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), 9 Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia; Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilov St, 119991 Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: max.nikitin@phystech.edu.
Maxim P
MP
Nikitin
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000737:chemistry; D039301:Computers, Molecular; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D055767:Immobilized Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
D055767:Immobilized Proteins; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D002701:Chloramphenicol; D006046:Gold
Biocomputing; Gold nanoparticles; Molecular logic-gates; Self-assembly; Smart materials; Surface plasmon resonance