Structural Changes of Microtubules by Encapsulation of Gold Nanoparticles Using a Tau-derived Peptide

This study encapsulated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in microtubules (MTs) by conjugating a Tau-derived peptide (TP) and evaluated the effects on MTs. Among the TP-conjugated AuNPs containing different sizes of AuNPs, different TP densities on AuNPs, and different surface functional groups of AuNPs, the rigidity and stability of the MTs were found to increase using citrate-capped AuNPs (10 nm) modified with 50 equivalents of TP. The findings provide an insight into the modulation of MTs by the encapsulation of nano-sized materials.