Conformational selectivity of peptides for single-walled carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes show promising prospects for applications ranging from molecular electronics to ultrasensitive biosensors. An important aspect to understanding carbon nanotube properties is their interactions with biomolecules such as peptides and proteins, as these interactions are important in our understanding of nanotube interactions with the environment, their use in cellular systems, as well as their interface with biological materials for medical and diagnostic applications. Here we report the sequence and conformational requirements of peptides for high-affinity binding to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). A new motif, X(1)THX(2)X(3)PWTX(4), where X(1) is G or H, X(2) is H or D or null, X(3) is null or R, and X4 is null or K, was identified from two classes of phage-displayed peptide libraries. The high affinity binding of the motif to SWNTs required constrained conformations which were achieved through either the extension of the amino acid sequence (e.g., LLADTTHHRPWT) or the addition of a constrained disulfide bond (e.g., CGHPWTKC). This motif shows specific high-affinity to the currently studied SWNTs, compared to previously reported peptides. The conformations of the identified peptides in complex with SWNTs were also characterized with a variety of biophysical methodologies including CD, fluorescence, NMR spectroscopy, and molecular modeling.