Research Highlight #8:

Binding Kinetics, Thermodynamics, & Supramolecular Assembly of Genetically Engineered Peptides

Urartu Seker, Brandon Wilson, Christopher So, John Kulp III, Ersin Emre Oren, Marketa Hnilova, John Spencer Evans, Candan Tamerler & Mehmet Sarikaya;
Materials Science & Engineering and Microbiology, University of Washington

The adsorption kinetics of an engineered Au binding peptide on Au(111) surface was studied by QCM and SPR. The kinetic parameters (K_eq =107 M^-1, DG=-8.0 kcal/mol) are comparable to thiol-based self-assembled monolayers. The thermodynamics parameters were also studied by SPR and the large values of entropy change (∆S_ads=-42.2) are observed similar to those of the SAM assembly on Au(111) and consistent with the formation of structured supra-molecular monolayer formation. MD simulations indicate that the peptide structure has periodic regions of extended β-strands and random coils with surface accessible sidechains. A putative Au docking site was shown to align with either the <110> or <211> Miller indices

Contact M. Sarikaya, for more details, sarikaya@u.washington.edu.