Abstract
Here we report the atomic-scale analysis of biological interfaces within the ferritin protein using atom probe tomography that is facilitated by an advanced specimen preparation approach. Embedding ferritin in an organic polymer resin lacking nitrogen provided chemical contrast to visualise atomic distributions and distinguish the inorganic-organic interface of the ferrihydrite mineral core and protein shell, as well as the organic-organic interface between the ferritin protein shell and embedding resin. In addition, we definitively show the atomic-scale distribution of phosphorus as being at the surface of the ferrihydrite mineral with the distribution of sodium mapped within the protein shell environment with an enhanced distribution at the mineral/protein interface. The sample preparation method is robust and can be directly extended to further enhance the study of biological, organic and inorganic nanomaterials relevant to health, energy or the environment.
Highlights
We report the atomic-scale analysis of biological interfaces within the ferritin protein using atom probe tomography that is facilitated by an advanced specimen preparation approach
The premise behind this approach is that the tomographic distribution of iron from the protein provides chemical contrast to distinguish the inorganic-organic interface of the ferrihydrite mineral core and protein shell, while the organic-organic interface between the ferritin protein shell and the embedding resin is distinguished by tracking nitrogen content
We definitively show the atomic-scale distribution of phosphorus as being at the surface of the ferrihydrite mineral surface along with sodium being within the protein shell environment with an enhanced distribution at the mineral/protein interface
Summary
We report the atomic-scale analysis of biological interfaces within the ferritin protein using atom probe tomography that is facilitated by an advanced specimen preparation approach. Embedding ferritin in an organic polymer resin lacking nitrogen provided chemical contrast to visualise atomic distributions and distinguish the inorganic-organic interface of the ferrihydrite mineral core and protein shell, as well as the organic-organic interface between the ferritin protein shell and embedding resin. P, O zy x of horse spleen ferritin protein embedded in the organic polymer resin lowicryl K4M which lacks nitrogen in its structure The premise behind this approach is that the tomographic distribution of iron from the protein provides chemical contrast to distinguish the inorganic-organic interface of the ferrihydrite mineral core and protein shell, while the organic-organic interface between the ferritin protein shell and the embedding resin is distinguished by tracking nitrogen content. We show an extension of the specimen preparation technique can be applied to further enhance the study of non-biological organic and inorganic nanomaterials relevant to energy and the environment
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