Brandeis grad students Yue Pan (Chemistry) and Marcus Long (Biochemistry), together with Professors Lizbeth Hedstrom and Bing Xu, have synthesized novel 6 nm diameter magnetic nanobeads (comparable in size to a globular protein) and used them to separate specific proteins from a cell lysate and manipulate live cells. This work has just appeared online in the journal Chemical Science.

Selectively binding glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins using
glutathione-decorated iron oxide nanoparticles and down-stream applications

These small, magnetic beads have numerous advantages over larger traditional glutathione-modified beads, including rapid purification, and ultra low non-specific binding. Importantly, both the purified GST and the protein of interest (POI) preserve their innate properties. They also demonstrate that functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles can be used to manipulate live cells. This work  establishes design principles for decorating magnetic nanoparticles that will ultimately should lead to a general and comprehensive platform for studying biological interactions and biological systems using a magnetic force.