Modelling peptide-mediated recognition of carbon materials.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Understanding and manipulating the interactions at the interface between peptides and other materials (such as carbon nanotubes) is critical for making advances in fabrication of nanoscale biosensors, electronic devices, and scaffolds for tissue engineering. Molecular simulation can give valuable input for how biomolecules and nanotubes/fullerenes interact, and suggest possible modifications to tune these interactions. A two-year exploratory modelling project is proposed to clarify the links between peptide sequence and experimentally observed sequence-specific binding to different carbon materials, specifically single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and fullerenes. The project also has general aims of bringing together a novel technique for calculation of binding affinities with a new force-field that will establish a general modelling procedure, applicable in principle to all peptide--surface systems. Very few simulations of any such recognition systems have been reported, despite an explosion in the growth of experimental interest in this area over the past five years. This project is designed to make a real impact in both methodology and applications in this emergent field of research. On a more particular note, the project will also make significant contributions to identifying the motifs that control specific binding present in biomolecule--carbon-nanotube and biomolecule--fullerene interactions. Applications that may benefit from this research range from to nanoscale sensors to tissue supports to nanotube separation techniques.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Tiffany Walsh (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Notman R
(2010)
Solution study of engineered quartz binding peptides using replica exchange molecular dynamics.
in Biomacromolecules
Notman R
(2009)
Molecular dynamics studies of the interactions of water and amino acid analogues with quartz surfaces.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Oren EE
(2010)
Probing the molecular mechanisms of quartz-binding peptides.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Evans J
(2011)
Molecular Design of Inorganic-Binding Polypeptides
in MRS Bulletin
Toma´sio S
(2009)
Modeling the Binding Affinity of Peptides for Graphitic Surfaces. Influences of Aromatic Content and Interfacial Shape
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C