Influence of “Glow Discharge Plasma” as an External Stimulus on the Self-Assembly, Morphology and Binding Affinity of Gold Nanoparticle-Streptavidin Conjugates

• Main Authors: Chang-Jun Liu, Sherif M. Shawky, Wael Mamdouh, Hassan M. E. Azzazy, Yingzhi Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2012-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: self-assembly; gold nanoparticles; interface; glow discharge plasma; atomic force microscopy; molecular aggregates; external stimuli
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/13/6/6534
• ISSN: 1422-0067

In this study, we investigate the influence of glow discharge plasma (GDP) on the self-assembly, morphology and binding affinity of streptavidin coated gold nanoparticles (Au-NP-SV) and biotinylated antibody (bAb) adsorbed on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate. Atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to image the pre- and post-GDP treated samples. The analysis of the AFM images showed a considerable change in the aggregation and morphology of Au-NP-conjugates after treatment with GDP. To our knowledge, this is the first report on using GDP to enhance and speed-up the aggregation (sintering) of adsorbed NP biomolecular conjugates. These results show a promising route that could be generalized for other NPs and their conjugates. It can also be considered as an alternative and cheap aggregation method for controlling the binding affinity of biomolecular species on different surfaces with interesting applications.