Shape Of Silver Nanoparticles Controls The Interaction With Protein

Metal nanoparticles are widely used in the fields of chemistry,biology,medicine and material science due to their unique small-scale effects.Among all metal nanoparticles,silver nanoparticles(AgNPs)have attracted quite a lot of attention owing to its unique optical and electrical properties.In recent years,it has become one of the most promising materials in biomedical research.As we all know,protein is the basic element of life,and the human body is full of a variety of proteins.When AgNPs enters human body,they will soon be wrapped on proteins,forming what is known as “protein corona”,which makes AgNPs have new biological identity.Therefore,the study on protein-nanoparticles interaction is significant to understand the subsequent physiological response of AgNPs in vivo.Up to now,the studies on the interaction between protein and AgNPs are mainly focused on the impact of nanoparticle size,but little is known about the impact of nanoparticle morphology.Thus,it is very important to explore the interaction between AgNPs with the different morphologies and protein,and elucidate the influence of morphology on the interaction.In this paper,silver nanospheres,silver nanorods and silver nanotriangles were synthesized by different methods,and bovine serum albumin(BSA)and fibrinogen(FIB)were selected as model proteins.The interaction between different morphologies of AgNPs and proteins(BSA and FIB)was investigated by using UV-vis absorption,fluorescence,DLS,FTIR,TEM and CD techniques.The results revealed that the particle size,shape and dispersion of AgNPs with three different morphologies changed greatly due to the interaction with BSA and FIB.With the addition of BSA,the surface of silver nanospheres and silver nanorods formed the protein corona,and the particle size increased slightly.However,the three “tips” of silver nanotriangles were slightly rounded,and finally turned out to be the discoid AgNPs.At tha same time,the particle size of silver nanotriangles was found to be decreased in a certain degree.In the case of the addition of FIB,it is shown that the silver nanospheres aggregated obviously,and the silver nanorods were coated with the clear protein corona.Moreover,it is noted that the silver nanotriangles gradually changed to silver nanospheres,resulting in an obvious decrease in particle size.The fluorescence spectrum showed that the fluorescence of BSA and FIB can be quenched by the three morphologies of AgNPs,and it may be a static quenching process.Additionally,the conformational changes of BSA and FIB induced by AgNPs were analyzed by FTIR and CD.In brief,this work will provide an important reference for the safe application of AgNPs in biologica and medical fields.