No Cover Image

Journal article 551 views 79 downloads

Morphology of the ferritin iron core by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

Nan Jian, Miriam Dowle, Richard D Horniblow, Chris Tselepis, Richard Palmer Orcid Logo

Nanotechnology, Volume: 27, Issue: 46, Start page: 46LT02

Swansea University Author: Richard Palmer Orcid Logo

  • Jian_2016_Nanotechnology_27_46LT02.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY) Licence.

    Download (2.06MB)

Abstract

As the major iron storage protein, ferritin stores and releases iron for maintaining the balance of iron in fauna, flora, and bacteria. We present an investigation of the morphology and iron loading of ferritin (from equine spleen) using aberration-corrected high angle annular dark field scanning tr...

Full description

Published in: Nanotechnology
ISSN: 0957-4484 1361-6528
Published: IOP Publishing 2016
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa49232
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: As the major iron storage protein, ferritin stores and releases iron for maintaining the balance of iron in fauna, flora, and bacteria. We present an investigation of the morphology and iron loading of ferritin (from equine spleen) using aberration-corrected high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy. Atom counting method, with size selected Au clusters as mass standards, was employed to determine the number of iron atoms in the nanoparticle core of each ferritin protein. Quantitative analysis shows that the nuclearity of iron atoms in the mineral core varies from a few hundred iron atoms to around 5000 atoms. Moreover, a relationship between the iron loading and iron core morphology is established, in which mineral core nucleates from a single nanoparticle, then grows along the protein shell before finally forming either a solid or hollow core structure.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 46
Start Page: 46LT02