Gold nanoparticles hold great promise for studying protein-protein interactions due to their intrinsic optical [...]]]> Our nanoparticle paper has been published by ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.  You can find it on their website, but you will need an ACS account to access the manuscript.  The abstract of the paper is quoted below:

Gold nanoparticles hold great promise for studying protein-protein interactions due to their intrinsic optical properties. Pink when in a homogeneous suspension, the solution turns blue-gray when particles are drawn close together, for example when immobilized proteins specifically interact with each other. However, nanoparticle stability, size and method of protein attachment contribute to the unreliable outcome of current assays. To overcome these hurdles, we developed novel and reliable methods to first synthesize homogenous particles of optimal diameter and second to apply a heterologous NTA-Ni-SAM coating for controlled orientation and optimal presentation of histidine-tagged proteins. Both methods were proven to greatly enhance assay sensitivity and specificity by increasing signal and minimizing non-specific binding. Our assay reproducibly detected known protein-protein interactions and unambiguously identified small molecules that inhibited them. We believe our gold nanoparticle bioassay is a universal and trustworthy new platform for analyzing protein-protein interactions and high-throughput screening of small molecule inhibitors.

We are very excited to have published this article with an ACS publication, and would like to thank the authors for all their hard work.  Minerva’s research and development of gold nanoparticle technology is an ongoing process here, and it’s wonderful to share some of that research with the scientific community.  Please take a moment to read more about the technology, or take a look at our gold nanoparticle product offerings.