Atomic force microscopy study of protein adsorption on gold
LE3 .A278 2005
2005
Roscoe, Sharon
Acadia University
Bachelor of Science
Honours
Chemistry
The atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique of imaging was used to investigate protein adsorption behaviour resulting from potential induced and pH induced conformational changes of proteins tethered through alkylthiol groups or adsorbed directly to the gold surface, respectively. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin and holo- and apo-a-lactalbumin adsorbed directly to the gold surface from solutions of pH 2, 7.4 and 11, and b-lactoglobulin from solutions of pH 2, 4, 4.5, 6, 7.4, 8, and 11 were imaged in the dry state after the proteins were allowed to adsorb onto the gold surface, rinsed with nanopure water and dried with argon gas. The images obtained of the self assembled arrays compared favourably with their known conformational behaviour at each pH. Trends were determined in the change of diameter as a function of pH, taking into account tip-sample interactions which significantly affected the measurements due to the soft nature of the proteins....
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