Fig. 3.

Detailed view of the lysozyme-SWNT interface, showing X-ray structures of a small portion of the protein in its open (light gray) and closed (dark gray) conformations (Protein Data Base 1QTV and 148L, respectively). The C90 attachment to the pyrene-maleimide linker molecule can provide a fixed reference point, and the dashed line depicts the distance x_o = 1.0 nm described in the text. In the vicinity of C90, only the amino acids at positions 83 and 119 have charged sidechains that move appreciably (highlighted). The pyrene and SWNT are independently free to rotate around the C90 site, but this illustration depicts an energetically likely orientation.