Protein-specific effects of binding to silica nanoparticles

Abstract

Adsorption of the globular proteins cytochrome c and lysozyme on 22-nm silica nanoparticles is shown to cause heteroaggregation over a wide pH range between the isoelectric points of silica and the protein. Although the two systems follow the same generic behavior, we find protein-specific differences in the adsorption and aggregation, which are attributed to differences in the charge distribution on the two proteins and the roles of non- Coulombic interactions for the adsorption of the two proteins. © 2012 The Chemical Society of Japan.