HYBRID GOLD/ALBUMIN NANOPARTICLES PREPARED BY X-RAY IRRADIATION UNDER REDUCTIVE CONDITIONS

ZEZINA; ZEZIN; MARIANO GRASSELLI; PAMELA KIKOT; FELDMAN; CONSTANZA FLORES; BARANOVA

Siófok

Simposio; 14th Tihany Symposium on Radiation Chemistry; 2019

Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Energy Security and Environmental Safety, Radiation Chemistry Department in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency

In the development of novel ?theranostic? nanoparticles (NPs), inorganic materials included in their composition confer them attractive features for biomedical diagnosis such as improved imaging sensitivity or magneto responsiveness. However, nanomaterials for in vivo applications require special surface topography to become compatible with the human body. Therefore, preparation of hybrid core/shell NPs, where an inorganic core is coated with a multilayer of proteins from human source is a promising approach. Previous report has shown the preparation of hybrid NPs based on gold NPs (Au-NPs) and albumin coating by crosslinking induced by gamma irradiation [1]. This method avoids the use of additional chemical crosslinker to stabilize the nanoconstruct. Plasmon spectra of these hybrid NPs showed a shift of several nanometers to longer wavelength. This property can be explained by the Mie theory, taking into account the thickness and refractive index of the protein layer surrounding Au-NPs of spherical shape. Thus, the optical absorption spectroscopy is a powerful technique to analyze these changes in the protein coating [2]. In this work we report on the preparation of hybrid NPs by using X-ray irradiation under reductive conditions. Au-NPs suspensions containing bovine serum albumin (40 mg/ml) and ethanol (30 %v/v) were irradiated using a X-ray tube (tungsten anode, Umax = 28 - 45 kV, 80 mA) to different absorbed doses (range 1 to 10 kGy). Plasmon spectra show an increment in the wavelength at half-maximum and differential plasmon spectra show a shift to higher wavelengths at higher dose. Dynamic Light Scattering analysis shows the presence of NPs of higher sizes.These results are qualitatively similar to those obtained by irradiation with 60Co gamma irradiation source.X-ray irradiation could be an alternative technique to prepare hybrid NPs involving multilayer protein coating. Possible effect of the enhanced local absorption of X-ray photons by NPs on the crosslinking process is briefly discussed. References [1] C.Y. Flores et al., Radiat. Phys. Chem., 2018, 142, 60.[2] C.Y. Flores et al.,. Mat. Res. Expr., 2018, in press.