title: Neurotrophin-mimicking peptides at the biointerface with gold respond to copper ion stimuli.
abstract: The peptide fragments NGF1-14and BDNF1-12, encompassing the N-terminal domains, respectively, of the proteins nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were used in this study for the fabrication of a hybrid gold/peptide biointerface. These peptides mimic the Trk receptor activation of the respective whole protein - with a crucial role played by copper ions - and exhibit, in bulk solution, a pH-dependent capability to complex copper. We demonstrate here the maintenance of peptide-specific responses at different pH values as well as the copper binding also for the adlayers formed upon physisorption at the gold surface. The physicochemical properties, including viscoelastic behavior of the adlayer and competitive vs. synergic interactions in sequential adsorption processes, were addressed both experimentally, by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and circular dichroism (CD), and theoretically, by molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. Proof-of work biological assays with the neuroblastoma SY-SH5H cell line demonstrated that the developed hybrid Au/peptide nanoplatforms are very promising for implementation in pH- and metal-responsive systems for application in nanomedicine.
authors: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria, 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy. csatriano@unict.it.
authors: C
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5348-5863
authors: C
authors: Satriano
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria, 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Forte
authors: Institute of Biostructures and Bioimages - Catania, National Council of Research (IBB-CNR), Via Paolo Gaifami, 16, I-95125 Catania, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Magrì
authors: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria, 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy. csatriano@unict.it.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Di Pietro
authors: Centre for Neural Science, New York University, Washington Place, 4, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Travaglia
authors: Endocrinology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Garibaldi-Nesima Medical Center, University of Catania, via Palermo n. 636, 95122 Catania, Italy.
authors: G
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3747-7649
authors: G
authors: Pandini
authors: Endocrinology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Garibaldi-Nesima Medical Center, University of Catania, via Palermo n. 636, 95122 Catania, Italy.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Gianì
authors: Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, via Bonanno Pisano, 6, I-56100 Pisa, Italy. lamendola@farm.unipi.it.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: La Mendola