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Updated: May 29, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Metal ion mediated self-assembly directed formation of protein arrays
Niculina D Bogdan1, Mihaela Matache, Gheorghe-Doru Roiban
1Department of Chemistry, Technical University München, 4 Lichtenberg str, 85748 Garching, Germany.
Abstract:
Self-assembled inorganic-protein arrays with well-defined and controllable size and structure were obtained through the Fe(II) complexation of protein-conjugated terpyridine units (ligand). The atom-level control of the ligand is obtained through residue-specific conjugation between the complexing unit (terpy) containing an activity-based probe and a corresponding active enzyme (papain). The Fe(II)-based self-assembly performed on this unique building block (ligand) leads to chemical species of unprecedented constitution. The first example presented herein opens the way to a shape and size regime usually reserved to polymers.
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