Safety concerns towards the biomedical application of PbS nanoparticles: An approach through protein-PbS interaction and corona formation
- Department of Physics and Technophysics, Vidyasagar University, Paschim Medinipur 721102 (India)
- Department of Physics, Ghatal R.S. Mahavidyalaya, Paschim Medinipur 721212 (India)
- Department of Physics, Narajole Raj College, Paschim Medinipur 721211 (India)
Semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) with near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence has achieved great interest for early detection of colon tumors/cancer. We have synthesized lead sulphide (PbS) NPs (5–7 nm) having emission in NIR region and investigated its interaction with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to determine the bio-safety of PbS NPs. The interaction of PbS NPs with BSA occurs through formation of “hard” and “soft” protein NPs corona and follows exponential association. The hard corona represents that the core PbS NPs are fully covered by BSA with shell thickness of ∼8 nm, i.e., the dimension of BSA monomer. A large number of PbS NPs with hard corona of BSA forms “colony” with diameters in the range of 200–400 nm. The soft corona grows surrounding this colony. The quenching of fluorescence BSA in the presence of PbS NPs follows dynamic quenching process with tryptophan as major binding sites. Nearest to human body temperature, positive cooperative association between PbS NPs and BSA are found, and affinity of BSA to the PbS NPs gradually increases in superlinear fashion. The electrostatic interaction is the key force in binding of PbS NPs with BSA, and hydrophobic interaction between PbS NPs and BSA is responsible for conformational change of BSA.
- OSTI ID:
- 22258594
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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