Biomimetic magnetite formation: from biocombinatorial approaches to mineralization effects.
Biological materials typically display complex morphologies and hierarchical architectures, properties that are hardly matched by synthetic materials. Understanding the biological control of mineral properties will enable the development of new synthetic approaches toward biomimetic functional materials. Here, we combine biocombinatorial approaches with a proteome homology search and in vitro mineralization assays to assess the role of biological determinants in biomimetic magnetite mineralization. Our results suggest that the identified proteins and biomimetic polypeptides influence nucleation in vitro. Even though the in vivo role cannot be directly determined from our experiments, we can rationalize the following design principles: proteins, larger complexes, or membrane components that promote nucleation in vivo are likely to expose positively charged residues to a negatively charged crystal surface. In turn, components with acidic (negatively charged) functionality are nucleation inhibitors, which stabilize an amorphous structure through the coordination of iron.
Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
Jens
J
Baumgartner
Maria Antonietta
MA
Carillo
Kevin M
KM
Eckes
Peter
P
Werner
Damien
D
Faivre
D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D019151:Peptide Library; D057786:Peptidomimetics / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
D019151:Peptide Library; D057786:Peptidomimetics; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide