Boosting the Photoluminescent Properties of Protein-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters through Protein Engineering

This work reports on the use of protein engineering as a versatile tool to rationally design metal-binding proteins for the synthesis of highly photoluminescent protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters (Prot-AuNCs). The use of a single repeat protein scaffold allowed the incorporation of a set of design...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2021-11, Vol.21 (21), p.9347-9353
Main Authors: Aires, Antonio, Sousaraei, Ahmad, Möller, Marco, Cabanillas-Gonzalez, Juan, Cortajarena, Aitziber L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysis
Energy Transfer
Gold - chemistry
Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry
Protein Engineering
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Summary:This work reports on the use of protein engineering as a versatile tool to rationally design metal-binding proteins for the synthesis of highly photoluminescent protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters (Prot-AuNCs). The use of a single repeat protein scaffold allowed the incorporation of a set of designed metal-binding sites to understand the effect of the metal-coordinating residues and the protein environment on the photoluminescent (PL) properties of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). The resulting Prot-AuNCs, synthesized by two sustainable procedures, showed size-tunable color emission and outstanding PL properties. In a second stage, tryptophan (Trp) residues were introduced at specific positions to provide an electron-rich protein environment and favor energy transfer from Trps to AuNCs. This modification resulted in improved PL properties relevant for future applications in sensing, biological labeling, catalysis, and optics.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03768