Friday, 7th July 2006 (4182 views)

A research team at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the United States have released the findings of their study into using gold nanoparticles to stabilise enzymes at air-water interfaces.

The discoveries, made by Vincent Rotello and his team, means that nano-sized particles of gold can be used as supports or 'scaffolds' to enhance the use of enzymes, particularly chymotrypsin, as biocatalysts.

"The key finding is that we can stabilise proteins under conditions that would normally reduce or eliminate their activity," explained Professor Rotello.

"At the moment, each protein is a special case that requires a new answer. Once we understand the process, it should be much easier to tailor particles to stabilise specific proteins."

Enzymes have a tendency to degrade at specific air-water points but throughout the UMass team's research, it was found that gold nanoparticles helped to significantly reduce the chances of this taking place.

The findings can be used to solve one of the main difficulties in biosensor development, which was previously held back by problems of this nature.

 

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