Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

C - Reactive Protein Induced Rearrangement Of Phosphatidylcholine On Nanoparticle Mimics Of Lipoprotein Particles, Marilyn R. Mackiewicz, Heather L. Hodges, Scott M. Reed

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lipid-coated metal nanoparticles are developed here as a mimic of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles and used to study C-reactive protein (CRP) binding to highly curved lipid membranes. A 12 nm shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) was observed when CRP was added to the lipid-coated gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that CRP induced a structural change to the lipids, resulting in clusters of nanoparticles. This clustering provides a visualization of how CRP could cause the aggregation of LDL particles, which is a key step in atherosclerosis. The cluster formation and resultant LSPR shift requires the presence …