Name: insights into the interactions of amino acids and peptides with inorganic materials using single-molecule force spectroscopy
Uploaded: 2017-03-06T12:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Insights into the Interactions of Amino Acids and Peptides with Inorganic Materials Using Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy at JoVE.com

This work was supported by the Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant (EP7). P. D. acknowledges the support of the Israel Council for Higher Education.

1. Tip Modification
<ol>
	<li>Purchase silicon nitride (Si3N4) AFM cantilevers with silicon tips (nominal cantilever radius of ~2 nm).</li>
	<li>Clean each AFM cantilever by dipping in anhydrous ethanol for 20 min. Dry at room temperature. Then treat the cantilevers by exposing them to O2 plasma for 5 min.</li>
	<li>Suspend the clean tips above (3 cm) a solution containing methyltriethoxysilane and 3-(aminopropyl) triethoxysilane in a ratio of 15:1 (v/v) in a desiccator under an inert a...

Steps 1.3, 1.4 and 1.7 in the protocol should be carried out with extensive care and in a very gentle manner. In step 1.3, the tip should not be in contact with the silane mixture and the silanization process should be carried out in an inert atmosphere (moisture free).45 This is done in order to prevent multilayer formation and because silane molecules readily undergo hydrolysis in the presence of moisture.45
In step 1.4, the temperature and tim...

The interaction between proteins and inorganic minerals leads to the construction of composite materials with distinctive properties. This includes materials with high mechanical strength or unique optical properties.1,2 For example, the combination of the protein collagen with the mineral hydroxyapatite generates either soft or hard bones for different functionalities. 3 Short peptides can also bind inorganic materials with high specificity. 4,5,6 The specificity of these peptides has been used for designing new magnetic and electronic materials,7,8,9 fabricating nanostructured materials, growing crystals, 10 and synthesizing nanoparticles.11Understanding the mechanism underlying interactions between peptides or proteins and inorganic materials will therefore allow us to design new composite materials with improved adsorptive properties. In addition, since the interphase of implants with an immune response is mediated by proteins, better understanding the interactions of proteins with inorganic materials will improve our ability to design implants. Another important area that involves proteins interacting with inorganic surfaces is the fabrication of antifouling materials.12,13,14,15 Biofouling is an undesirable process in which organisms attach to a surface. It has many detrimental implications on our lives. For example, biofouling of bacteria on medical devices leads to hospital-acquired infections. Biofouling of marine organisms on boats and large ships increases the consumption of fuel.12,16,17,18
Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS), using an AFM, can directly measure the interactions between an amino acid or a peptide with a substrate.19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26 Other methods such as phage display,27,28 quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)29or surface plasmon resonance (SPR)29,30,31,32,33 measure the interactions of peptides and proteins to inorganic surfaces in bulk.34,35,36 This means that the results obtained by these methods relate to ensembles of molecules or aggregates. In SMFS, one or very few molecules are fixed to the AFM tip and their interactions with the desired substrate is measured. This approach can be expanded to study protein folding by pulling the protein from the surface. In addition, it can be used to measure interactions between cells and proteins and the binding of antibodies to their ligands.37,38,39,40 This paper describes in detail how to attach either peptides or amino acids to the AFM tip using silanol chemistry. In addition, the paper explains how to perform force measurements and how to analyze the results.

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		<tr height="173">
			<td height="173" style="height:173px;width:164px;">Silicon nitride (Si3N4) AFM cantilevers with silicon tips</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Bruker (Camarilo, CA, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">MSNL10, nominal cantilevers radius ~2 nm&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Methyltriethoxysilane&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Acros Organics (New Jersey, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">For Silaylation of the AFM tip&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">3-(Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Sigma-Aldrich (Jerusalem, Israel)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used for tip modification&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Triisopropylsilane</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Sigma-Aldrich (Jerusalem, Israel)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used for tip modification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:164px;">N-Ethyldiisopropylamine</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Alfa-Aesar (Lancashire, UK)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used for tip modification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:164px;">Triethylamine</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Alfa-Aesar (Lancashire, UK)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used for tip modification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="85">
			<td height="85" style="height:85px;width:164px;">Piperidine</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Alfa-Aesar (Lancashire, UK)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used for tip modification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="232">
			<td height="232" style="height:232px;width:164px;">Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl-PEG-N-hydroxysuccinimide&#160; (Fmoc-PEG-NHS)</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Iris Biotech GmbH (Deutschland, Germany)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used as the covalent flexible linker&#160; (MW = 5000 Da)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="253">
			<td height="253" style="height:253px;width:164px;">2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3,-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU)</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Alfa Aser (Heysham, England)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used as a coupling reagent.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="148">
			<td height="148" style="height:148px;width:164px;">N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Acros Organics (New Jersey, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used as Solvent in Tip modification procedure</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="148">
			<td height="148" style="height:148px;width:164px;">DMF (dimethylformamide)</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Merck (Darmstadt, Germany)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">Used as Solvent in Tip modification procedure</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Trifluoro acetic acid (TFA)</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Merck (Darmstadt, Germany)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Acetic anhydride</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Merck (Darmstadt, Germany)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Peptides</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">GL Biochem (Shanghai, China).</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:106px;width:164px;">Phenylalanine and Tyrosine&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">Biochem (Darmstadt, Germany)&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="240">
			<td height="361" rowspan="7" style="height:361px;width:164px;">30% TiO2 dispersion in the mixture of solvent 2-(2-Methoxyethoxy) ethanol (DEGME) and Ethyl 3-Ethoxypropionate (EEP)</td>
			<td rowspan="7" style="width:147px;">Applied Vision Laboratories (Jerusalem, Israel)</td>
			<td rowspan="7" style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td rowspan="7" style="width:264px;">(30%) in the mixture of solvent 2-(2 Methoxyethoxy) ethanol (DEGME) and Ethyl 3-Ethoxypropionate (EEP)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
		</tr>
		<tr height="148">
			<td height="148" style="height:148px;width:164px;">Mica substrates</td>
			<td style="width:147px;">TED PELLA, INC. (Redding, California, USA)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;"></td>
			<td style="width:264px;">9.9 mm diameter</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

insights into the interactions of amino acids and peptides with inorganic materials using single-molecule force spectroscopy

The interactions between proteins or peptides and inorganic materials lead to several interesting processes. For example, combining proteins with minerals leads to the formation of composite materials with unique properties. In addition, the undesirable process of biofouling is initiated by the adsorption of biomolecules, mainly proteins, on surfaces. This organic layer is an adhesion layer for bacteria and allows them to interact with the surface. Understanding the fundamental forces that govern the interactions at the organic-inorganic interface is therefore important for many areas of research and could lead to the design of new materials for optical, mechanical and biomedical applications. This paper demonstrates a single-molecule force spectroscopy technique that utilizes an AFM to measure the adhesion force between either peptides or amino acids and well-defined inorganic surfaces. This technique involves a protocol for attaching the biomolecule to the AFM tip through a covalent flexible linker and single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements by atomic force microscope. In addition, an analysis of these measurements is included.

Figure 1 exhibits the tip modification procedure. In the first step, a plasma treatment changes the surface of the silicon nitride tip. The tip presents OH groups. These groups will then react with the silanes. At the end of this step, the surface of the tip will be covered by free -NH2 groups. These free amines will then react with Fmoc -PEG-NHS, a covalent linker. The Fmoc group of the PEG linker is removed by pipyridine, a deprotecting reagent. Finally, the ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Insights into the Interactions of Amino Acids and Peptides with Inorganic Materials Using Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy at JoVE.com

Insights into the Interactions of Amino Acids and Peptides with Inorganic Materials Using Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Here we present a protocol to measure the force of interactions between a well-defined inorganic surface and either peptides or amino acids by single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The information obtained from the measurement is important to better understand the peptide-inorganic material interphase.

The interactions between proteins or peptides and inorganic materials lead to several interesting processes. For example, combining proteins with minerals ...

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