标题： 金属核心在强耦合静电作用下病毒样颗粒稳定性中的作用 显示英文标题

标题： Role of metallic core for the stability of virus-like particles in strongly coupled electrostatics

摘要： 我们研究了渗透（静电）压力作用于病毒样颗粒（VLPs）通用模型的蛋白质外壳上，该模型包括带电的外层和金属纳米粒子核心，由带电层覆盖，并浸没在水性电解质（盐）溶液中。 受近期研究的启发，这些研究强调了多价离子对VLP稳定性的作用，我们专注于多价阳离子和阴离子在原本单价离子浴溶液中的影响。 我们进行了广泛的蒙特卡洛模拟，基于适当的库仑相互作用，一致地考虑了盐屏蔽效应、金属核心的介电极化以及由于多价离子的存在而产生的强耦合静电学的影响。 我们特别研究了这些因素在模型VLP静电稳定性中的复杂作用。 结果表明，虽然单独插入金属纳米粒子可以在外层壳上产生负的、向内的压力，但仅添加少量多价反离子就可以稳健地产生负压，从而在系统参数的广泛范围内增强VLP的稳定性。 显示英文摘要

摘要： We investigate the osmotic (electrostatic) pressure acting on the proteinaceous shell of a generic model of virus-like particles (VLPs), comprising a charged outer shell and a metallic nanoparticle core, coated by a charged layer and bathed in an aqueous electrolyte (salt) solution. Motivated by the recent studies accentuating the role of multivalent ions for the stability of VLPs, we focus on the effects of multivalent cations and anions in an otherwise monovalent ionic bathing solution. We perform extensive Monte-Carlo simulations based on appropriate Coulombic interactions that consistently take into account the effects of salt screening, the dielectric polarization of the metallic core, and the strong-coupling electrostatics due to the presence of multivalent ions. We specifically study the intricate roles these factors play in the electrostatic stability of the model VLPs. It is shown that while the insertion of a metallic nanoparticle by itself can produce negative, inward-directed, pressure on the outer shell, addition of only a small amount of multivalent counterions can robustly engender negative pressures, enhancing the VLP stability across a wide range of values for the system parameters.