Nanochelators with biocompatible tailored ligands can play a profound role in the capture and stabilization of metals with different oxidation states. These types of nanochelators that possess good solubility and potential to cross the blood brain barrier with minimal side effects are of significant interest as sensors and as therapeutic chelating agents. We have prepared a new class of biocompatible water-soluble gold nanomaterials for metal chelation studies.  The nanomaterials are surface-functionalized with small peptide derivatives of phytochelatins (PC). Natural PC chelators are cysteine-rich peptides found in certain plants have high metal uptake, tolerance, and specificity. The small dimensions and high surface to volume ratio of nanomaterials make these ideal ligand transport vehicles and the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanoparticles which are sensitive to changes in refractive index can be used as a probe for metal chelation. The synthetic methodology will be discussed and the UV-vis, TEM as well as dynamic light scattering measurements will be presented. Metal binding studies using LSPR and fluorescence techniques will demonstrate the use of these peptide-coated nanomaterials to chelate metals with high specificity and affinity. These multi-functional nanochelators will serve as a new platform for developing optical metal sensors and nanochelating therapeutic agents.

Biocompatible nanochelators surface functionalized with phytochelatin peptide derivatives for metal chelation studies

242nd National Meeting (2011)

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