Structural characterization of magnetoferritin

Physico-chemical characterization of biomacromolecule magnet of erritin in terms of morphology, structural and magnetic properties shows that iron oxides can be efficiently loaded into apoferritin molecules, preserving its native, bio-compatible structure. At the same time, such loading affects the morphology of the protein shell

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetoferritin

The paper presents detailed experimental study of synthesis and characterization a bioinorganic magnetic molecule - magnetoferritin. Magnetoferritin with loading of iron ions per protein molecule in the range from 300 to 3000 was prepared. Size distribution analysis (transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering) shows spherical nanoparticles with particle size distribution from 2 to 12 nm, and hydrodynamic diameter from 12 to 25 nm. The thermomagnetic curves measured after cooling the sample in zero field (zero-field cooling) and under the presence of the measurement field (field cooling) show superparamagnetic behavior with the blocking temperature $T_{b}$ from 22 to 60 K and the magnetization loops measured below $T_{b}$ (at 2 K) show the hysteresis with coercive field from 20 to 30 kA/m depending on the concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles

Lysozyme Amyloid Fibrils Doped by Carbon Nanotubes

Production of new composites for the creation of modern materials with desired properties is the key feature of nanotechnology. Despite the well known advantages of magnetic nanoparticles, the aim of the present study was to synthesize lysozyme amyloid fibrils from hen egg white and subsequently doped this solution with single walled carbon nanotubes and with the magnetite Fe₃O₄ labelled single walled carbon nanotubes. Transmission electron microscopy and polarization optical microscopy were used to obtain the structural and dimensional information about samples. Measurements of magnetic properties indicate the considerable increase of the saturation magnetization for solutions included the magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetic Birefringence Study of the Magnetic Core Structure of Ferritin

Magnetically induced optical birefringence (Δ n) was measured for magnetoferritin and horse spleen ferritin aqueous suspensions. The Δ n for magnetoferritin was described in the frame of the Langevin formalism taking into account distribution of core diameter. The established average magnetic dipole moment and core diameter is equal to about 460 $μ_{B}$ and 3 nm, respectively. It was shown that magnetic birefringence and the Cotton-Mouton constant can be powerful parameters in identification of the magnetic core structure of ferritin, especially useful in biomedicine