Quantitative study of protein-protein interactions by quartz nanopipettes

Nanoscale. 2014 Sep 7;6(17):10255-63. doi: 10.1039/c4nr02964j.

Abstract

In this report, protein-modified quartz nanopipettes were used to quantitatively study protein-protein interactions in attoliter sensing volumes. As shown by numerical simulations, the ionic current through the conical-shaped nanopipette is very sensitive to the surface charge variation near the pore mouth. With the appropriate modification of negatively charged human neuroglobin (hNgb) onto the inner surface of a nanopipette, we were able to detect concentration-dependent current change when the hNgb-modified nanopipette tip was exposed to positively charged cytochrome c (Cyt c) with a series of concentrations in the bath solution. Such current change is due to the adsorption of Cyt c to the inner surface of the nanopipette through specific interactions with hNgb. In contrast, a smaller current change with weak concentration dependence was observed when Cyt c was replaced with lysozyme, which does not specifically bind to hNgb. The equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) for the Cyt c-hNgb complex formation was derived and the value matched very well with the result from surface plasmon resonance measurement. This is the first quantitative study of protein-protein interactions by a conical-shaped nanopore based on charge sensing. Our results demonstrate that nanopipettes can potentially be used as a label-free analytical tool to quantitatively characterize protein-protein interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Biosensing Techniques / methods
  • Capillary Tubing
  • Materials Testing
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Nanopores / ultrastructure*
  • Protein Interaction Mapping / methods*
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Quartz / chemistry*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Quartz