Assembly of Gold Nanorods on HSA Amyloid Fibrils to Develop a Conductive Nanoscaffold for Potential Biomedical and Biosensing Applications

Ramezan Ali Taheri,Yasin Akhtari,Tahereh Tohidi Moghadam,Bijan Ranjbar

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26393-6

Abstract

Today, Gold Nanorods have promised variety of applications in conjugation with biomolecules of interest. Discovery of functional amyloids has also been highlighted with possible use in designing high performance materials. To exploit dual properties of both Nano and Bio counterparts in new functional materials, this effort has focused on synthesis of a potential hybrid system of Gold nanorods (GNRs) and HSA amyloid fibrils to develop a conductive nanoscaffold. UV-Vis spectroscopy, Thioflavin T (ThT) assay, Far-UV Circular Dichroism (CD) spectropolarimetry, fluorescence and Transmission Electron microscopy were used to characterize formation of the nanostructures and amyloid fibrils. Surface plasmon resonance of GNRs was also monitored upon interaction with HSA amyloid fibrils, showing that the plasmonic component of the hybrid system has maintained its characteristic rod morphology without any perturbations. Analysis of Nyquist plots for the hybrid nanoscaffold showed that the electronic behavior of the hybrid system has been enhanced due to the presence of the assembled GNRs. Results of this investigation highlight the possibility of fabricating hybrid nano-bioscaffolds as promising candidates in versatile biomedical and biosensing applications.

Highlights

Gold nanoparticles have shown unique physicochemical properties for utilization in various medical applications such as diagnostics, imaging and therapies
Taking the promising applications of both gold nanorods and amyloid fibrils into account, in this effort fabrication of a hybrid scaffold consisting of plasmonic Gold nanorods (GNRs) and HSA amyloid fibrils has been attempted in view of assembly of the nanostructures on the biological template to dictate conductivity of GNRs to a mechanically and chemically strong scaffold
It is worth to mention that the wavelength region where the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) appears is dependent upon the aspect ratio and synthesis conditions of GNRs

Summary

Introduction

Gold nanoparticles have shown unique physicochemical properties for utilization in various medical applications such as diagnostics, imaging and therapies. Study on bioavailability, biocompatibility, self-assembly, functionalization and bioconjugation of GNRs with various biomolecules have led to design and fabrication of molecular nano probes for simultaneous detection of proteins[4,5,6] and nucleic acids[7] as well as development of molecular therapeutic agents[8], controlled gene release[9,10], imaging[11], and hyperthermia[12] These nanostructures can be modified by thiol ended molecules that make them suitable for many different biological applications[13,14,15]. To the best of our knowledge, assembly of gold nanorods on HSA amyloid fibrils to fabricate a conductive nanoscaffold has not been reported so far

Methods

Results

Conclusion