Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Preparation, Purification, and Characterization of Lanthanide Complexes for Use as Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: July 21, 2011
Reversing Lanmodulin's Metal-Binding Sequence in Short Peptides Surprisingly Increases the Lanthanide Affinity.
Sophie M Gutenthaler-Tietze1,2, Jerome Kretzschmar3, Satoru Tsushima3,4
1Department of Chemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstraße 5-13, 81377, München, Germany.
Reversing natural lanthanide-binding protein sequences boosted peptide affinity for rare earth elements (REEs) by tenfold. This breakthrough advances REE recycling and bio-inspired separation technologies.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Materials Science
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical for clean energy, high-tech, and medical applications.
- Separating chemically similar REEs is a significant challenge.
- Lanthanide-binding proteins like lanmodulin (LanM) offer bio-inspired solutions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop novel peptides for REE separation using LanM's binding site sequences as a blueprint.
- To investigate the effect of reversing natural peptide sequences on lanthanide binding affinity.
- To identify structural features that enhance lanthanide binding.
Main Methods:
- Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS)
- Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC)
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
- Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
- Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy
Main Results:
- Reversing natural LanM binding loop sequences increased lanthanide binding affinity by approximately one order of magnitude for three out of four sequences.
- Identified specific structural features responsible for the enhanced binding affinity.
- Engineered a 12-amino acid peptide with 150 nM lanthanide affinity through a single amino acid exchange.
Conclusions:
- Reversed LanM peptide sequences demonstrate superior lanthanide binding capabilities.
- This work provides a foundation for designing highly efficient REE separation peptides.
- The findings have significant implications for REE recycling and sustainable resource management.
More Related Videos
09:38Fabrication Procedures and Birefringence Measurements for Designing Magnetically Responsive Lanthanide Ion Chelating Phospholipid Assemblies
Published on: January 3, 2018
11:04Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Techniques for Determining the Structure and Mechanisms of Metal Ion Recognition and Redox Activity of Metal Binding Oligopeptides
Published on: September 7, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Ligand Binding and Linkage
Ligand Binding Sites
Protein-ligand interactions are quite specific; even though numerous potential ligands surround a cellular protein at any given time, only a particular ligand can bind to that protein. Moreover, a ligand binds only to a dedicated area on the surface of the protein, known as the...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally...
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect