University of Pisa, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, Via G. Moruzzi 13, I-56124 Pisa, Italy.
Nanotechnology. 2017 Feb 3;28(5):055706. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/28/5/055706. Epub 2016 Dec 28.
Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are considered as ideal materials for biotechnological and medical applications. An important feature of halloysite is that it has a different surface chemistry on the inner and outer sides of the tubes. This property means that negatively-charged molecules can be selectively loaded inside the halloysite nanoscale its lumen. Loaded HNTs can be used for the controlled or sustained release of proteins, drugs, bioactive molecules and other agents. We studied the interaction between HNTs and bovine serum albumin, α lactalbumin and β -lactoglobulin loaded into HTNs using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry. These techniques enabled us to study the protein conformation and thermal stability, respectively, and to estimate the amount of protein loaded into the HNTs. TEM images confirmed the loading of proteins into HTNs.
埃洛石纳米管（HNTs）被认为是生物技术和医学应用的理想材料。埃洛石的一个重要特点是，它的内外表面具有不同的表面化学性质。这一特性意味着带负电荷的分子可以选择性地装载到埃洛石纳米管的内腔中。负载的埃洛石纳米管可用于控制或持续释放蛋白质、药物、生物活性分子和其他药剂。我们使用傅里叶变换红外光谱和热重分析研究了负载到埃洛石纳米管中的牛血清白蛋白、α乳白蛋白和β-乳球蛋白与埃洛石纳米管之间的相互作用。这些技术使我们能够分别研究蛋白质的构象和热稳定性，并估计负载到埃洛石纳米管中的蛋白质的量。TEM 图像证实了蛋白质被装载到埃洛石纳米管中。
