Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea

Encapsulation

Because hollow structures can be made at the nanoscale (like zeolites), it is possible to make encapsulated nanomaterials. In biology, these are actually rather common. For example, metal ions such as zinc or copper are normally not isolated within the cells of the body. Rather, they are surrounded by small proteins, some of which are called chaperones. Tom O'Halloran's group at Northwestern has shown quite clearly that copper is moved across the cell from site to site surrounded by small protein chaperones. These are smart structures in that they recognize the presence of a copper ion, encapsulate it, move it to another place, and hand it over. This is the same sort of process we discussed with siderophores, our nanoscale octopuses. ...