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Nano-Bio Interactions: The Myeloperoxidase Enzyme and Gallium Arsenide Nanowires

Mellace, Cesare LU (2018) FYSM60 20181
Department of Physics
Abstract
With the increasing use of nanomaterials in industrial production, the concept of Nanosafety has acquired importance for human and environmental protection.
A complete evaluation on the potential risks of a determined nanomaterial cannot prescind from the molecular mechanism of interaction between nanomaterials and biomolecules. In this project, the interaction between a nanomaterial used in solar cell as Gallium Arsenide Nanowires and the Myeloperoxidase enzyme in the human immune system has been studied.
Popular Abstract
Manipulation at the nanoscale has recently brought to the table and renewed the importance of safety and ethic research. Decisions relative to nanosafety must be based on valid scientific information. The goal of this master project is therefore, the study of the influence of nanowires onto an enzyme involved in immune system so establishing molecular building blocks for a nanotoxicology assessment.
The gallium Arsenide nanowires used in the project are one of the most promising material in solar cells technology. Their light harvesting properties allows to generate more power with the same surface area than conventional silicon-based solar cells. The enzyme called Myeloperoxidase, instead, plays an important role in the immune response... (More)
Manipulation at the nanoscale has recently brought to the table and renewed the importance of safety and ethic research. Decisions relative to nanosafety must be based on valid scientific information. The goal of this master project is therefore, the study of the influence of nanowires onto an enzyme involved in immune system so establishing molecular building blocks for a nanotoxicology assessment.
The gallium Arsenide nanowires used in the project are one of the most promising material in solar cells technology. Their light harvesting properties allows to generate more power with the same surface area than conventional silicon-based solar cells. The enzyme called Myeloperoxidase, instead, plays an important role in the immune response of the human organisms. Myeloperoxidase can be seen as the biological analogous of chorine pool disinfectants since it produces chlorine compounds that kill bacteria that enters our body.
The aim of the project is to give the clearest picture of the interaction between the protein and the wires. In a similar fashion to a puzzle or a mosaic the pieces of information about this interaction need to be combined to get the bigger picture. The tiles are constituted by different experiments performed with a blend of complementary techniques relative to biochemistry and material science.
The main experimental tools used in this project are fluorescence and absorbance spectroscopy which provides information on the structure and activity of the enzyme by comparing the wavelength of the light passing through the samples. The “dry” spectroscopic information is then correlated to images gathered via electron microscopy. Thanks to the work of Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson who were awarded with the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 2017 is now possible to get picture of biomolecules in solution by freezing them at -195 °C. Cryogenic electron microscopy is believed to be the next fundamental tool for biomolecular analysis.
In this work it is presented one of the first application of cryo-electron microscopy in the study of nanomaterial and biomolecular interfaces used as a tool to understand the safety of engineered nanomaterials. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Mellace, Cesare LU
supervisor
organization
course
FYSM60 20181
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Nanowires, Gallium Arsenide, Myeloperoxidase, Nanoscale interaction, Cryogenic Electron microscopy, Fluorescence
language
English
id
8956304
date added to LUP
2018-08-23 11:31:13
date last changed
2018-08-23 11:31:13
@misc{8956304,
  abstract     = {{With the increasing use of nanomaterials in industrial production, the concept of Nanosafety has acquired importance for human and environmental protection. 
A complete evaluation on the potential risks of a determined nanomaterial cannot prescind from the molecular mechanism of interaction between nanomaterials and biomolecules. In this project, the interaction between a nanomaterial used in solar cell as Gallium Arsenide Nanowires and the Myeloperoxidase enzyme in the human immune system has been studied.}},
  author       = {{Mellace, Cesare}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Nano-Bio Interactions: The Myeloperoxidase Enzyme and Gallium Arsenide Nanowires}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}