Hirano Atsushi, Kameda Tomoshi, Wada Momoyo, Tanaka Takeshi, Kataura Hiromichi
Nanomaterials Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan.
Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Koto, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan.
J Phys Chem Lett. 2017 Oct 19;8(20):5216-5221. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b02157. Epub 2017 Oct 11.
The adsorption of proteins onto nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) governs the early stages of nanoparticle uptake into biological systems. Previous studies regarding these adsorption processes have primarily focused on the physical interactions between proteins and nanoparticles. In this study, using reduced lysozyme and intact human serum albumin in aqueous solutions, we demonstrated that CNTs interact chemically with proteins. The CNTs induce the oxidation of cysteine residues of the proteins, which is accounted for by charge transfer from the sulfhydryl groups of the cysteine residues to the CNTs. The redox reaction simultaneously suppresses the intermolecular association of proteins via disulfide bonds. These results suggest that CNTs can affect the folding and oxidation degree of proteins in biological systems such as blood and cytosol.
蛋白质吸附到诸如碳纳米管（CNT）等纳米颗粒上，决定了纳米颗粒进入生物系统的早期阶段。此前关于这些吸附过程的研究主要集中在蛋白质与纳米颗粒之间的物理相互作用上。在本研究中，我们使用还原型溶菌酶和水溶液中的完整人血清白蛋白，证明了碳纳米管与蛋白质发生化学相互作用。碳纳米管会诱导蛋白质的半胱氨酸残基氧化，这是由于半胱氨酸残基的巯基向碳纳米管发生电荷转移所致。这种氧化还原反应同时通过二硫键抑制了蛋白质的分子间缔合。这些结果表明，碳纳米管会影响血液和细胞质等生物系统中蛋白质的折叠和氧化程度。
