Site-selective immobilization of streptavidin on enzymatically biotinylated bacterial magnetic particles

Biotinylated magnetic nanoparticles were constructed by displaying biotin acceptor peptide (BAP) on the surfaces of bacterial magnetic particles (BacMPs) synthesized by Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1. Both BAP and green fluorescent protein (GFP) were fused to Mms13 that was isolated from BacMP membranes. The localization of the fusion protein, BAP-Mms13-GFP, was confirmed by fluorescence analysis. BacMPs that expressed BAP-Mms13-GFP (BAP/GFP-BacMPs) were extracted from bacterial cells and incubated with biotin and Escherichia coli biotin ligase. The in vitro biotinylation of BAP/GFP-BacMPs was confirmed using alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-streptavidin detection. The conjugation system developed in this study provides a method for producing biotin- or streptavidin-labeled magnetic nanoparticles without the use of a crosslinker reagent. Various functional materials can be immobilized site-selectively onto these uniquely designed BacMPs. By combining this site-selective biotinylation technology and protein display methodology, increasingly innovative and attractive magnetic nano-materials can be constructed.