“By attaching peptides to carbon nanotubes, we gave them the ability to selectively recognize a protein of interest – in this case anthrax toxin – from a mixture of different proteins,” Kane said. “Then, by exposing the mixture to light, we could selectively deactivate this protein without disturbing the other proteins in the mixture.”
By conjugating carbon nanotubes with different peptides, this process can be easily tailored to work on other harmful proteins, Kane said. Also, employing different wavelengths of light that can pass harmlessly through the human body, the remote control process will also be able to target and deactivate specific proteins or toxins in the human body. Shining light on the conjugated carbon nanotubes creates free radicals, called reactive oxygen species. It was the presence of radicals, Kane said, that deactivated the proteins.
Kane’s new method for selective nanotube-assisted protein deactivation could be used in defense, homeland security, and laboratory settings to destroy harmful toxins and pathogens. The method could also offer a new method for the targeted destruction of tumor cells. By conjugating carbon nanotubes with peptides engineered to seek out specific cancer cells, and then releasing those nanotubes into a patient, doctors may be able to use this remote protein deactivation technology as a powerful tool to prevent the spread of cancer.
Kane’s team also developed a thin, clear film made of carbon nanotubes that employs this technology. This self-cleaning film may be fashioned into a coating that – at the flip of a light switch – could help prevent the spread of harmful bacteria, toxins, and microbes.
“The ability of these coatings to generate reactive oxygen species upon exposure to light might allow these coatings to kill any bacteria that have attached to them,” Kane said. “You could use these transparent coatings on countertops, doorknobs, in hospitals or airplanes – essentially any surface, inside or outside, that might be exposed to harmful contaminants.”
Kane said he and his team will continue to hone this new technology and further explore its potential applications.
###
Co-authors of the paper include Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering graduate students Amit Joshi and Shyam Sundhar Bale; postdoctoral researcher Supriya Punyani; Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center Laboratory Manager Hoichang Yang; and professor Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.
The group has filed a patent disclosure for their new selective nanotube-assisted protein deactivation technology. The research project was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
About Rensselaer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the nation’s oldest technological university. The university offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the humanities and social sciences. Institute programs serve undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals around the world. Rensselaer faculty are known for pre-eminence in research conducted in a wide range of fields, with particular emphasis in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, and the media arts and technology. The Institute is well known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.
Contact
Michael Mullaney
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
518.276.6161 (office)
518.698.6336 (cell)
mullam@rpi.edu |
