Zinc-decorated silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles (ZnSiMNPs) were prepared by adsorbing zinc onto colloidal silica. These nanoparticles were used for the rapid purification of 6×His-tagged recombinant phycobiliprotein. The surface changes in the magnetic nanoparticles after zinc adsorption were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The adsorption of the 6×His-tagged phycobiliprotein onto ZnSiMNPs in 10 mM PBS at 25°C was found to follow the Langmuir isotherm. ZnSiMNPs could be used to extract 6×His-tagged phycobiliprotein from lysate to single-band purity, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. No spectral variation was observed in the purified phycobiliprotein. Thus, ZnSiMNPs served as a useful tool for the magnetic separation and delivery of the 6×His-tagged phycobiliprotein.
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