1 research outputs found
Structural and Thermodynamic Properties of Nanoparticle–Protein Complexes: A Combined SAXS and SANS Study
We
propose a novel method for determining the structural and thermodynamic
properties of nanoparticle–protein complexes under physiological
conditions. The method consists of collecting a full set of small-angle
X-ray and neutron-scattering measurements in solutions with different
concentrations of nanoparticles and protein. The nanoparticle–protein
dissociation process is described in the framework of the Hill cooperative
model, based on which the whole set of X-ray and neutron-scattering
data is fitted simultaneously. This method is applied to water solutions
of gold nanoparticles in the presence of human serum albumin without
any previous manipulation and can be, in principle, extended to all
systems. We demonstrate that the protein dissociation constant, the
Hill coefficient, and the stoichiometry of the nanoparticle–protein
complex are obtained with a high degree of confidence