Design of peptides for thin films, coatings and microcapsules for applications in biotechnology

J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2005;16(3):285-99. doi: 10.1163/1568562053654103.

Abstract

A highly-interdisciplinary approach has been developed for minimizing the immunogenicity of films, coatings, microcapsules and other nano-structured materials fabricated from designed polypeptide chains. It is to base the amino-acid sequences on solvent-exposed regions in the folded states of proteins from the same organism. Each such region that meets defined criteria with respect to charge is called a sequence motif. The approach becomes more specifically tailored for intravenous applications by requiring an employed sequence motif to correspond to a known blood protein. An algorithm has been developed to identify sequence motifs in protein-encoding regions of a genome. This work is focused on sequence motifs of charge per unit length >0.5 at neutral pH. It has been found that the number of unique sequence motifs meeting this criterion in available human genome data is maximal for motifs of approx. 7 residues in length. We have designed polypeptides on the basis of computational analysis and shown that they can be used to fabricate nano-structured thin films by electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly (ELBL). The results of this work are discussed with a view to possible applications in biotechnology, notably development of biocompatible coatings and microcapsules.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Biotechnology / methods*
  • Capsules / chemistry*
  • Drug Design*
  • Genome
  • Genome, Human
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanotechnology
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Polymers / chemistry
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Engineering
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Solvents
  • Static Electricity

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Capsules
  • Peptides
  • Polymers
  • Proteins
  • Solvents