期刊
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
卷 104, 期 46, 页码 18019-18024出版社
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0702843104
关键词
peptide nanostructures; self-assembling; atomic force microscopy; scanning tunneling microscopy; confocal microscopy
The self-assembly of polypeptides into stable, conductive, and intrinsically fluorescent biomolecular nanowires is reported. We have studied the morphology and electrical conduction of fibrils made of an elastin-related polypeptide, poly(ValGlyGlyLeuGly). These amyloid-like nanofibrils, with a diameter ranging from 20 to 250 nm, result from self-assembly in aqueous solution at neutral pH. Their morphological properties and conductivity have been investigated by atomic force microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and two-terminal transport experiments at the micro-and nanoscales. We demonstrate that the nanofibrils can sustain significant electrical conduction in the solid state at ambient conditions and have remarkable stability. We also show intrinsic blue-green fluorescence of the nanofibrils by confocal microscopy analyses. These results indicate that direct (label-free) excitation can be used to investigate the aggregation state or the polymorphism of amyloid-like fibrils (and possibly of other proteinaceous material) and open up interesting perspectives for the use of peptide-based nanowire structures, with tunable physical and chemical properties, for a wide range of nanobiotechnological and bioelectronic applications.
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