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Polystyrene nanoparticles interactions with Calbindin D9k and Monellin

Lindunger, Martin (2017) MOBK01 20162
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Abstract
Nanomedicine and the use of nanoparticles (NPs) are growing like never before. It is therefore important to investigate the interactions in the nano world and the possible hazards. Proteins in organisms can adsorb to NPs and change the proteins structure and therefore their functions. This could be a potential danger and thus an interesting research field. Here, we explore how the proteins Calbindin D9k and Monellin interacts with polystyrene NPs using fluorescence spectroscopy and NPs colloidal stability using dynamic light scattering (DLS). We show that similar charges repel and the opposite attract proteins to NPs, proteins hydrophobic patches allow them to adsorb to hydrophobic NPs and the size of the NPs seems to affect how fast the... (More)
Nanomedicine and the use of nanoparticles (NPs) are growing like never before. It is therefore important to investigate the interactions in the nano world and the possible hazards. Proteins in organisms can adsorb to NPs and change the proteins structure and therefore their functions. This could be a potential danger and thus an interesting research field. Here, we explore how the proteins Calbindin D9k and Monellin interacts with polystyrene NPs using fluorescence spectroscopy and NPs colloidal stability using dynamic light scattering (DLS). We show that similar charges repel and the opposite attract proteins to NPs, proteins hydrophobic patches allow them to adsorb to hydrophobic NPs and the size of the NPs seems to affect how fast the proteins adsorbs to the NPs. (Less)
Popular Abstract
The invisible tree is falling, will we hear it?

Some people say what we cannot see does not exists. Today, media and social media are letting us see what is going on all around the world, things that 20 years ago we could not see but still existed. However, there are things we cannot see, not 5 000 km away but right where we live. We are exposed to these things every day, whether we are brushing our teeth, sun bathing or walking down the street. These things are called nanoparticles (NPs) and they are invisible for the human eye. Their size is incomprehensible, by definition they have at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers or in English, they are super, super tiny. Let us say you would win 10 million dollars on the lottery and... (More)
The invisible tree is falling, will we hear it?

Some people say what we cannot see does not exists. Today, media and social media are letting us see what is going on all around the world, things that 20 years ago we could not see but still existed. However, there are things we cannot see, not 5 000 km away but right where we live. We are exposed to these things every day, whether we are brushing our teeth, sun bathing or walking down the street. These things are called nanoparticles (NPs) and they are invisible for the human eye. Their size is incomprehensible, by definition they have at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers or in English, they are super, super tiny. Let us say you would win 10 million dollars on the lottery and this would equal one meter. One nanometer would then be like winning 1 penny on the lottery.

The NPs in the everyday products and from many different industries can eventually make their way to the sewage systems and later end up in lakes and oceans. Because of their small size they can be consumed by algae, the algae are then eaten by small fish which are then eaten by bigger fish and maybe if you like to eat fish, you will eat the bigger fish. This means that the NPs will follow the whole food chain. The problem with NPs inside organisms is that they do not degrade and their size allows them to get into all tissues in the body. Inside an organism the NPs will meet a huge vary of different molecules, e.g. proteins. When they meet they either play nice or get into a fight. This is because when proteins meet the NPs they tend to stick to them and when they do they can alter its shape just like humans can change their behavior when meeting different people. How proteins work is mainly due their shape and when their shape is altered their way of working might be changed as well. Therefore, NPs in organisms can be really dangerous.

In recent years, we have started to understand how some proteins and NPs bind to each other and we have been trying to use this to benefit us. You could see proteins as a kind of a key but also as a key hole and a lot of the things that keeps us alive is dependent on how certain keys fit to certain key holes. All our different cells inside our bodies have specific key holes and to get into a cell you must have the right key. Unhealthy cells e.g. cancer cell have certain key holes and by fitting the right key onto NPs, we can get the NPs inside of these unhealthy cells. By putting medicine e.g. cancer treatment medicine inside the NPs with the right key we can be sure that the medicine only will affect the unhealthy cells. Using NPs in medicine is called nanomedicine and could have a huge impact on how we treat patients.

How proteins and NPs interact is still a young field of research and due to the vast amount of different proteins in organisms it is very difficult to predict how NPs will affect organisms. This is why I have been studying how different proteins interact with NPs of varying sizes. The results showed that the total charge, positive or negative and the hydrophobicity of the proteins along with the NPs size are key factors for how they interact. The method in this study can tell us if proteins binds to NPs and somewhat if the proteins shape changes. Therefore, further research with other technics is needed. The results take us one step closer to creating our own Rosetta stone of the protein-nanoparticle language.




Supervisor: Martin Lundqvist
Degree Project 15 credits in molecular biology 2016
Department of Biology/Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology
Lund University (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lindunger, Martin
supervisor
organization
course
MOBK01 20162
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
language
English
id
8902529
date added to LUP
2017-02-06 15:46:28
date last changed
2017-02-06 15:46:28
@misc{8902529,
  abstract     = {{Nanomedicine and the use of nanoparticles (NPs) are growing like never before. It is therefore important to investigate the interactions in the nano world and the possible hazards. Proteins in organisms can adsorb to NPs and change the proteins structure and therefore their functions. This could be a potential danger and thus an interesting research field. Here, we explore how the proteins Calbindin D9k and Monellin interacts with polystyrene NPs using fluorescence spectroscopy and NPs colloidal stability using dynamic light scattering (DLS). We show that similar charges repel and the opposite attract proteins to NPs, proteins hydrophobic patches allow them to adsorb to hydrophobic NPs and the size of the NPs seems to affect how fast the proteins adsorbs to the NPs.}},
  author       = {{Lindunger, Martin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Polystyrene nanoparticles interactions with Calbindin D9k and Monellin}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}