Abstract
In this investigation, for the first time we report the effects of pH on the molecular orientation, packing density, structural properties, adsorption characteristics and viscoelastic behaviour of resilin-mimetic protein rec1-resilin at the solid-liquid interface using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. QCM-D and SPR data confirm that the binding ability of rec1-resilin on a substrate is strongly pH-dependent the protein packing density on a gold surface is calculated to be 4.45 × 1013 per cm2 at the isoelectric point (IEP ∼ 4.9), 8.79 × 1011 per cm2 at pH 2 and 9.90 × 1011 per cm2 at pH 12, respectively. Our findings based on the thickness, dissipation and viscoelasticity of the rec1-resilin adlayer also indicate that it is adsorbed onto the gold substrate with different orientation depending on pH, such as back-on adsorption at acidic pH of 2, compact end-on bilayer adsorption at the IEP and side-on at high alkaline pH of 12. When rec1-resilin is 'pinned' to the substrate at IEP and subsequently exposed to an electrolyte solution adjusted to different pH, it switches from a compact globular conformation of the bio-macromolecule at the IEP to a coil conformation at pH between IEP to IED (IED = pKa value of tyrosine amino acid residue) and an extended coil conformation at pH > IED. This transformation from globule to coil to extended coil conformation is kinetically fast, robust and completely reversible. Such responsive surfaces created using 'smart' biomimetic rec1-resilin have the potential to find applications in many areas including biotechnology, medicine, sensors, controlled drug delivery systems and engineering.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4434-4446 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Biomaterials |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research is financially supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery Grant, DP0451406 ) and involves active collaboration with CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering (CMSE) and CSIRO Livestock Industries.
Keywords
- Biomimetic material
- Protein adsorption
- Quartz crystal microbalance
- Recombinant protein
- Resilin
- Responsive interface