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Modulation of Peptide Based Nano-Assemblies with Electric and Magnetic Fields
Gaurav Pandey1, Jahnu Saikia1, Sajitha Sasidharan1
1Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, India.
Scientific Reports
|June 5, 2017
Summary
Electric fields can control peptide self-assembly, preventing aggregation and altering the morphology and crystal habit of diphenylalanine nano-assemblies. This offers a new strategy for advanced biomaterial fabrication.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Materials Chemistry
Background:
- Peptide-based nano-assemblies are promising for biomaterials due to stability.
- Controlling molecular-level organization is crucial for fabricating application-oriented materials.
- External stimuli can potentially modulate self-assembly for material design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of electric and magnetic fields on diphenylalanine self-assembly.
- To understand how these fields affect the chemical and structural properties of the assemblies.
- To explore the potential for external stimuli to re-engineer nanomaterials.
Main Methods:
- Applying AC and DC electric fields to diphenylalanine during annealing.
- Observing the effects of electric field exposure on aggregation and self-assembly.
- Analyzing the chemical constitution and structural morphology of the resulting nano-assemblies.
- Comparing experimental results with molecular dynamics simulations.
Main Results:
- Electric fields effectively arrested aggregation and self-assembly formation.
- Applied electric fields modulated the morphology of self-assembled structures.
- The overall chemical constitution of the diphenylalanine material remained unaffected.
- Self-assemblies formed after electric field exposure exhibited altered crystal habits.
- Results align with theoretical molecular dynamics studies on amyloid systems.
Conclusions:
- Electric field perturbation is a viable method to control peptide-based nano-assembly.
- External stimuli can modulate nano-level architecture, offering a strategy for material re-engineering.
- This approach can potentially expand the application spectrum of existing nanomaterials.
- Controlled self-assembly is key to developing advanced, application-specific biomaterials.
