Characterization of protein-conjugating kinetics based on localized surface plasmon resonance of the gold nanoparticle

The gold nanoparticle exhibits optical property of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which dynamically alters as the surface adsorbs new ligands. We carried out a semi-quantitative analysis with the method of multivariate curve resolution, observing that the adsorption of serum albumin on gold nanoparticle was best deciphered as two-mode competitive kinetics. Interestingly, for human serum albumin, the slower mode contributed considerably to the LSPR response of protein-conjugated surfaces, while in the case of bovine serum albumin the faster mode overwhelmed the slower one at high protein concentrations. The kinetic patterns were rationalized with diversity of biomolecular orientations on the nanoparticle surface. The simple but efficient protocol supports semi-quantitative analysis combining UV-vis spectroscopy with chemometrics method for distinguishing conjugation kinetics of different types of proteins on the surface of nanoparticles at nanomolar concentration.