Designing super selectivity in multivalent nano-particle binding.

ABSTRACT: A key challenge in nano-science is to design ligand-coated nano-particles that can bind selectively to surfaces that display the cognate receptors above a threshold (surface) concentration. Nano-particles that bind monovalently to a target surface do not discriminate sharply between surfaces with high and low receptor coverage. In contrast, "multivalent" nano-particles that can bind to a larger number of ligands simultaneously, display regimes of "super selectivity" where the fraction of bound particles varies sharply with the receptor concentration. We present numerical simulations that show that multivalent nano-particles can be designed such that they approach the "on-off" binding behavior ideal for receptor-concentration selective targeting. We propose a simple analytical model that ac

SUBMITTER: Martinez-Veracoechea FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3131366 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature