Active Spatiotemporal Control of Arg-Gly-Asp-Containing Tetradecapeptide Organomercaptans on Gold with In−Plane Electrochemical Potential Gradients

Abstract

Surface immobilized peptides and proteins containing the tripeptide sequence Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) are of interest because of their ability to bind to members of the integrin superfamily of cell-surface receptors and thereby direct cellular haptotaxis. Two-component counterpropagating gradients of organothiols terminated with an RGD-containing tetradecapeptide and the cell-adhesion-resistant thiol, mercaptoundecanol (MUD), were electrochemically generated by coupling in-plane electrochemical potential gradients with the electrosorption reactions of organothiols to vary the composition laterally. One- and two-component gradients formed from model alkanethiols and peptide-terminated thiols as a function of local composition were probed by spatially resolved electrochemical stripping analysis and Fourier transform infrared external reflection spectroscopy (FTIR-ERS), using the IR spectra to map the local composition and the shift in desorption peak potential, E0des, to assess the degree of surface heterogeneity....