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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
Published on: April 22, 2016
X-ray observations of single bio-supramolecular photochirogenesis
Jaewon Chang1, Masaki Nishijima2, Hiroshi Sekiguchi3
1Advanced Material Science, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Japan; Advanced Operando-Measurement Technology Open Innovation Laboratory (OPERANDO-OIL), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Japan.
Abstract:
The binding and photochirogenic behaviour of 2-anthracenecarboxylate (AC) with human serum albumin (HSA) have hitherto been investigated and comprehended as time-averaged statistical events by spectroscopic examinations and product analyses. In this study, we employed a diffracted X-ray tracking (DXT) technique to visualize the single-molecular dynamics of free and AC-loaded HSA (AC:HSA = 0, 1, 5 and 10), as well as the AC-HSA complex under photoirradiation, all of which were tethered to gold nanocrystals and hence traceable in real time by DXT. This enabled us to draw a more dynamic picture of the bio-supramolecular photochirogenesis at a single-molecule resolution, detailing the softening and flexibility enhancement of HSA upon binding of ACs to its inter-subdomain IIA-IIB site and the dynamic extrusion of AC dimers produced upon photoirradiation.
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