Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Biomolecules modulate inorganic crystallization to generate hierarchically structured biominerals 1–5 , but the atomic structure of the organic-inorganic interfaces that regulate mineralization remain unknown 6–8 . We hypothesized that heterogeneous nucleation of calcium carbonate could be achieved by a structured flat molecular template that pre-organizes calcium ions on its surface. To test this hypothesis, we designed helical repeat proteins (DHRs) displaying regularly spaced carboxylate arrays on their surfaces and found that both protein monomers and protein-Ca 2+ assemblies directly nucleate nano-calcite with non-natural (110) or (202) faces while vaterite, which forms first absent the proteins, is bypassed. The nanocrystals then assemble by oriented attachment into calcite mesocrystals. We find further that nanocrystal size and polymorph can be tuned by varying the length and surface chemistry of the designed protein templates. Thus, bio-mineralization can be programmed using de novo protein design, providing a route to next-generation hybrid materials. One sentence summary De novo designed protein templates promote nucleation of nano-calcite and direct its growth by oriented particle attachment.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,290
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Battelle, University of Washington, Office of Science, Clean Energy Institute, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Basic Energy Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Energy Frontier Research Centers, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering
Awards: G1079818582, G1143651532, G125460123, G1286236842, G1286251239, G1414775356, G1445641779, G1756126698, G1816284028, G1863003419, G198587779, G2320984915, G237429762, G2506945562, G2810384502, G2831848703, G2857863752, G2988778103, G30714459, G3083819904, G311062248, G3349933317, G3499273409, G365575497, G391136020, G3933667097, CSSAS: THE CENTER FOR THE SCIENCE OF SYNTHESIS ACROSS SCALES, G400111597, G416814614, G419881185, G42916606, G4501827968, G470175542, G4746884851, G498139845, G5321382714, G538270251, CSSAS: THE CENTER FOR THE SCIENCE OF SYNTHESIS ACROSS SCALES, G5692233181, G5707437273, G5726405315, G575939937, G5849692847, G6131458749, G613759197, G6182780125, G6457474454, G650090426, G654302390, NNCI: Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NWNI), PRINCIPLES OF DE NOVO PROTEIN NANOMATERIAL ASSEMBLY IN 1, 2 AND 3 DIMENSIONS, G7354628648, G7560550554, NNCI: Northwest Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NNI), PRINCIPLES OF DE NOVO PROTEIN NANOMATERIAL ASSEMBLY IN 1, 2 AND 3 DIMENSIONS, G7897470476, G791371132, G805243471, G84288863, G8993327715, NE-CAT: A Resource for Advanced Macromolecular Crystallography, G969889393
OpenAlex ID: W4389742424