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

Nan Jian, Miriam Dowle, Richard D Horniblow, Chris Tselepis, Richard E Palmer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
177 Downloads (Pure)

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number46LT02
JournalNanotechnology
Volume27
Issue number46
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Oct 2016

Keywords

  • ferritin
  • iron core
  • HAADF-STEM
  • morphology
  • atom counting

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Morphology of the ferritin iron core by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this