Protein nanofibers from self-assembling pentamers
A protein nanofiber comprised of self-assembling pentamers, and a method for producing the protein nanofiber, in which the protein upon which the nanofiber is based is a specific form of COMP. The proteins self-assemble via electrostatic interactions to form fibers that extend longitudinally.
1. A protein nanofiber comprising a plurality of fibrils, each fibril being formed by coiled-coil homopentamers of a protein, wherein the protein has a sequence of SEQ ID NO. 1 or SEQ ID NO. 2.
2. The protein nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fibrils associate with each other along the longitudinal axis to form the nanofibers.
3. The protein nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the diameter of the nanofibers is from 20 nm to 1 micron.
4. The protein nanofiber of claim 3 , wherein the diameter of the nanofibers is from 50 to 200 nm.
5. The protein nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the diameter of the fibril is from 1-10 nm.
6. The protein nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the length of the nanofibers is from 1 micron to 30 microns.
7. The protein nanofiber of claim 1 , which has associated thereon a plurality of non-protein hydrophobic molecules.
8. A composition comprising the protein nanofibers of claim 1 in a suitable buffer.
9. The composition of claim 8 , wherein the protein nanofibers have non-protein hydrophobic molecules bound thereto.
10. The composition of claim 9 , wherein the suitable buffer is a phosphate buffer.
11. The composition of claim 10 , wherein the pH of the buffer is from 4 to 8.
12. A method of making the nanofibers of claim 1 , comprising mixing a plurality of proteins of SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:2 under conditions that permit self-assembly of the proteins to form homopentamers thereby allowing the formation of fibrils, and nanofibers.
13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising contacting the nanofibers with a metal nanoparticle precursor such that a film comprising the protein of the nanofibers having metal nanoparticles disposed therein is formed.
14. A protein nanofiber comprising a plurality of fibrils, each fibril being formed by coiled-coil homopentamers of a protein, wherein the protein has a sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:2, in which a methionine in the protein of SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:2 is replaced with azidohomoalanine (AHA), the protein is conjugated to a magnetite binding peptide of SEQ ID NO:16, and the conjugate is incorporated into magnetic nanoparticles.