Evolutionary screening of biomimetic coatings for selective detection of explosives.
Susceptibility of chemical sensors to false positive signals remains a common drawback due to insufficient sensor coating selectivity. By mimicking biology, we have demonstrated the use of sequence-specific biopolymers to generate highly selective receptors for trinitrotoluene and 2,4-dinitrotoluene. Using mutational analysis, we show that the identified binding peptides recognize the target substrate through multivalent binding with key side chain amino acid elements. Additionally, our peptide-based receptors embedded in a hydrogel show selective binding to target molecules in the gas phase. These experiments demonstrate the technique of receptor screening in liquid to be translated to selective gas-phase target binding, potentially impacting the design of a new class of sensor coatings.
Jaworski
Justyn W
JW
Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Francisco, California 94720, USA.
Raorane
Digvijay
D
Huh
Jin H
JH
Majumdar
Arunava
A
Lee
Seung-Wuk
SW
D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D053834:Explosive Agents; D005740:Gases; D010455:Peptides