Impact of multivalent charge presentation on peptide-nanoparticle aggregation.

Daniel Schöne,Boris Schade,Christoph Böttcher,Beate Koksch

doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.89

Abstract

Strategies to achieve controlled nanoparticle aggregation have gained much interest, due to the versatility of such systems and their applications in materials science and medicine. In this article we demonstrate that coiled-coil peptide-induced aggregation based on electrostatic interactions is highly sensitive to the length of the peptide as well as the number of presented charges. The quaternary structure of the peptide was found to play an important role in aggregation kinetics. Furthermore, we show that the presence of peptide fibers leads to well-defined nanoparticle assembly on the surface of these macrostructures.

Highlights

In the past few decades metal and semiconductor nanoparticles, including gold nanoparticles, have gained much interest due to their desirable optical, magnetic, and electronic properties [1]
The results presented demonstrate that the aggregation of Au/MUA nanoparticles depends on the number of presented arginine residues and on the sequence length
The size of the peptide and the charge density plays an important role for its aggregation efficiency

Summary

Introduction

In the past few decades metal and semiconductor nanoparticles, including gold nanoparticles, have gained much interest due to their desirable optical, magnetic, and electronic properties [1]. The distinct colour of gold nanoparticles is a result of the localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band caused by collective electron oscillations. The LSPR induces a certain excitation band at visible wavelengths in the absorption spectrum, the position and width of which is highly dependent upon nanoparticle size. Nanoparticle aggregation induces a spectral red-shift and broadening of the band in the absorption spectrum which depends on the distance between nanoparticles, the density of the assembly and the size of the particles [2,3]. Nanoparticles are applied as targeted biomarkers and drug-delivery agents to tumor cells [7], only very little is known about the effects of nanoparticles on whole organisms [8]

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Discussion

Conclusion