Folding-Refolding of Ferritin as Template in Design of Nanoclusters of Copper and Manganese Oxides

Abstract

Bio-templates such as proteins, lipids offer rich structural and functional diversity for the synthesis of nanoparticles by controlling their shape, size and orientation. In this work we have exploited a pH dependent folding-refolding feature of Horse Spleen Apoferritin (HsAFr) to synthesize copper and manganese oxide nanoparticles in a controlled manner. Two methods of preparation were used in this study. In the first method, Copper Sulphate (100 mM) and Manganese Chloride (4.8 mM) have been incubated with the protein and the pH dynamically adjusted for homogeneous incorporation of the metal ions into the HsAFr shell. The second study involved the incorporation of Cu2+ and Mn2+ inside HsAFr cavity and subsequent designing of nanoclusters of the respective oxides. UV, fluorescence and far-UV circular dichroism (far-UV CD) spectroscopic techniques have been used to study the mineralization effect of the metal inside the HsAFr cavity. Size determination carried out using XRD suggested an average size ranging from 20-30 nm. The EPR of the nanoclusters show that incorporation of Mn2+ leads to a characteristic magnetoferritin behavior.