Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer between bioluminescent proteins and semiconductive nanomaterials
AssigneeSyracuse University
InventorsMathew Maye, Rabeka Alam
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Abstract
A bioluminescence energy transfer (BRET) nanosystem having semiconductive quantum rods (QRs) bound by firefly luciferase Photinus pyralis (Ppy) for improved conversion of chemical energy to light, such as in solid-state lighting, near-infrared imaging systems, and in vivo infrared imaging. The nanosystems are formed by synthesizing CdSe/CdS or CdSe/CdS/ZnS quantum rods, rendering the dots hydrophilic and colloidially stable with a facile His-capping, incubating with a Ppy variant (PpyGRTS) at increasing loading ratios, and adding an excess of the luciferin (LH2) substrate to the PpyGRTS-QRs.
Claims18
A bioluminescent energy transfer system, comprising:
- a semiconductive quantum rod having a rod-shaped core surrounded by a rod-shaped shell that fluoresces at a predetermined frequency;
- and
- at least one luciferase protein having a hexahistidine tag, wherein the hexahistidine tag binds the luciferase protein directly to the shell of the quantum rod via non-covalent coordination.
A method of emitting light, comprising the steps of:
- providing a bioluminescent complex having a semiconductive quantum rod a rod-shaped core surrounded by a rod-shaped shell that fluoresces at a predetermined frequency and at least one luciferase protein having hexahistidine tag that binds the luciferase protein directly to the surface of the quantum rod via non-covalent coordination;
- and
- exposing said bioluminescent complex to a substrate of said luciferase molecule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.