Gold nanoparticle– (AuNP−) protein conjugates are potentially useful in a broad array of diagnostic and therapeutic applications, but the physical basis of the simultaneous adsorption of multiple proteins onto AuNP surfaces remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the contribution of electrostatic interactions to protein–AuNP binding by studying the pH-dependent binding behavior of two proteins, GB3 and ubiquitin. For both proteins, binding to 15-nm citrate-coated AuNPs closely tracks with the predicted net charge using standard pKa values, and a dramatic reduction in binding is observed when lysine residues are chemically methylated. This suggests that clusters of basic residues are involved in binding, and using this hypothesis, we model the pKa shifts induced by AuNP binding. Then, we employ a novel NMR-based approach to monitor the binding competition between GB3 and ubiquitin in situ at different pH values. In light of our model, the NMR measurements reveal that the net charge, binding association constant, and size of each protein play distinct roles at different stages of protein adsorption. When citrate-coated AuNPs and proteins first interact, net charge appears to dominate. However, as citrate molecules are displaced by protein, the surface chemistry changes, and the energetics of binding becomes far more complex. In this case, we observed that GB3 is able to displace ubiquitin at intermediate time scales, even though it has a lower net charge. The thermodynamic model for binding developed here could be the first step toward predicting the binding behavior in biological fluids, such as blood plasma.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been of recent interest due to their unique optical properties and their biocompatibility. Biomolecules spontaneously adsorb to their surface, a trait that could potentially be exploited for drug targeting. Currently, it is unclear whether protein–AuNP interactions at the nanoparticle surface are dependent on nanoparticle size. In this work, we investigate whether varying surface curvature can induce protein unfolding and multilayer binding in citrate-coated AuNPs of various sizes. A recently developed NMR-based approach was utilized to determine the adsorption capacity, and protein NMR spectra were compared to determine whether nanoparticle size influences protein interactions at the surface. In addition, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were employed to corroborate the NMR studies. Over a broad range of AuNP sizes (14–86 nm), we show that adsorption capacity can be predicted by assuming that proteins are compact and globular on the nanoparticle surface. Additionally, roughly one layer of proteins is adsorbed regardless of AuNP size. Our results hold for two proteins of significantly different sizes, GB3 (6 kDa) and bovine carbonic anhydrase (BCA, 29 kDa). However, the unstable drkN SH3 domain (ΔG̅0 ≈ 0, 7 kDa) does not appear to follow the same trend seen for stable, globular proteins. This observation suggests that unstable proteins can deform significantly when bound to AuNP surfaces. Taken together, the results of this work can be used to improve our knowledge of the mechanism of protein–AuNP interactions to optimize their use in the biomedical field.

Human carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a well-studied, robust, mononuclear Zn-containing metalloprotein that serves as an excellent biological ligand system to study the thermodynamics associated with metal ion coordination chemistry in aqueous solution. The apo form of human carbonic anhydrase II (CA) binds 2 equiv of copper(II) with high affinity. The Cu2+ ions bind independently forming two noncoupled type II copper centers in CA (CuA and CuB). However, the location and coordination mode of the CuA site in solution is unclear, compared to the CuB site that has been well-characterized. Using paramagnetic NMR techniques and X-ray absorption spectroscopy we identified an N-terminal Cu2+ binding location and collected information on the coordination mode of the CuA site in CA, which is consistent with a four- to five-coordinate N-terminal Cu2+ binding site reminiscent to a number of N-terminal copper(II) binding sites including the copper(II)-amino terminal Cu2+ and Ni2+ and copper(II)-β-amyloid complexes. Additionally, we report a more detailed analysis of the thermodynamics associated with copper(II) binding to CA. Although we are still unable to fully deconvolute Cu2+ binding data to the high-affinity CuA site, we derived pH- and buffer-independent values for the thermodynamics parameters K and ΔH associated with Cu2+ binding to the CuB site of CA to be 2 × 109 and −17.4 kcal/mol, respectively.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are an attractive delivery vector in biomedicine because of their low toxicity and unique electronic and chemical properties. AuNP bioconjugates can be used in many applications, including nanomaterials, biosensing, and drug delivery. While the phenomenon of spontaneous protein–AuNP adsorption is well-known, the structural and mechanistic details of this interaction remain poorly understood. As a result, predicting the orientation and structure of proteins on the nanoparticle surface remains a challenge. New techniques are therefore needed to characterize the structural properties of proteins as they bind to AuNPs. We have developed a straightforward and rapid NMR-based approach to quantitatively characterize the protein–AuNP interaction. This approach is immune to the inner filter effect, which complicates fluorescence measurements, and it can be performed without prior centrifugation of samples. Using a data set of six proteins, ranging in size from 3 to 583 residues, we measured the stoichiometry of binding to AuNPs with a diameter of 15 nm. The stoichiometry of binding can be predicted based on simple geometric considerations assuming that proteins remain globular on the AuNP surface. Using our approach, we find that a protein lacking cysteine residues can be displaced from AuNPs using a small organothiol compound, but proteins with surface cysteines are resistant to displacement. From this data we develop a model for adsorption consisting of three steps: an initial reversible association step, a rearrangement/reorientation step on the AuNP surface, and a final cysteine-dependent “hardening” step, after which binding becomes irreversible.

The potential applications of protein-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have motivated many studies characterizing protein–AuNP interactions. However, the lack of detailed structural information has hindered our ability to understand the mechanism of protein adsorption on AuNPs. In order to determine the structural perturbations that occur during adsorption, hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) of amide protons was measured for two proteins by NMR. Specifically, we measured both slow (5–300 min) and fast (10–500 ms) H/D exchange rates for GB3 and ubiquitin, two well-characterized proteins. Overall, amide exchange rates are very similar in the presence and absence of AuNPs, supporting a model where the adsorbed protein remains largely folded on the AuNP surface. Small differences in exchange rates are observed for several loop residues, suggesting that the secondary structure remains relatively rigid while loops and surface residues can experience perturbations upon binding. Strikingly, several of these residues are close to lysines, which supports a model where positive surface residues may interact favorably with AuNP-bound citrate. Because these proteins appear to remain folded on AuNP surfaces, these studies suggest that it may be possible to engineer functional AuNP-based nanoconjugates without the use of chemical linkers.