Serial silver clusters biomineralized by one peptide

ACS Nano. 2011 Nov 22;5(11):8684-9. doi: 10.1021/nn202566n. Epub 2011 Nov 4.

Abstract

The artificial peptide with amino acid sequence CCYRGRKKRRQRRR was used to biomineralize serial Ag clusters. Under different alkaline conditions, clusters with red and blue emission were biomineralized by the peptide, respectively. The matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectra implied that the red-emitting cluster sample was composed of Ag(28), while the blue-emitting cluster sample was composed of Ag(5), Ag(6), and Ag(7). The UV-visible absorption and infrared spectra revealed that the peptide phenol moiety reduced Ag(+) ions and that formed Ag clusters were captured by peptide thiol moieties. The phenol reduction potential was controlled by the alkalinity and played an important role in determining the Ag cluster size. Circular dichroism observations suggested that the alkalinity tuned the peptide secondary structure, which may also affect the Ag cluster size.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Absorption
  • Active Transport, Cell Nucleus
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Minerals / metabolism*
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Protein Sorting Signals
  • Silver / chemistry*
  • Silver / metabolism*
  • tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / chemistry

Substances

  • Minerals
  • Peptides
  • Protein Sorting Signals
  • tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
  • Silver