Ceramic nanoparticle assemblies with tailored shapes and tailored chemistries via biosculpting and shape-preserving inorganic conversion

Recent advances and progress in biotemplate catalysts for electrochemical energy storage and conversion

Complex structures and morphologies in nature endow materials with unexpected properties and extraordinary functions. Biotemplating is an emerging strategy for replicating nature structures to obtain materials with unique morphologies and improved properties. Recently, efforts have been made to use bio-inspired species as a template for producing morphology-controllable catalysts. Fundamental information, along with recent advances in biotemplate metal-based catalysts are presented in this review through discussions of various structures and biotemplates employed for catalyst preparation. This review also outlines the recent progress on preparation routes of biotemplate catalysts and discusses how the properties and structures of these templates play a crucial role in the final performance of metal-based catalysts. Additionally, the application of bio-based metal and metal oxide catalysts is highlighted for various key energy and environmental technologies, including photocatalysis, fuel cells, and lithium batteries. Biotemplate metal-based catalysts display high efficiency in several energy and environmental systems. Note that this review provides guidance for further research in this direction.

Localization and characterization of ferritin in Demospongiae: a possible role on spiculogenesis

Iron, as inorganic ion or as oxide, is widely used by biological systems in a myriad of biological functions (e.g., enzymatic, gene activation and/or regulation). In particular, marine organisms containing silica structures—diatoms and sponges—grow preferentially in the presence of iron. Using primary sponge cell culture from S. domuncula–primmorphs—as an in vitro model to study the Demospongiae spiculogenesis, we found the presence of agglomerates 50 nm in diameter exclusively inside sponge specialized cells called sclerocytes. A clear phase/material separation is observed between the agglomerates and the initial stages of intracellular spicule formation. STEM-HRTEM-EDX analysis of the agglomerates (30–100 nm) showed that they are composed of pseudohexagonal nanoparticles between 5 and 15 nm in size, displaying lattice parameters corresponding to hematite (Fe₂O₃) and mixed iron oxide phases typically attributed to ferritin. Further analysis, using western blotting, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), sequence alignment analysis, immunostaining and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), of mature spicule filaments confirm the presence of ferritin within these organic structures. We suggest that S. domuncula can be classified as a dual biomineralizating organism, i.e., within the same cellular structure two distinct biomineralizing processes can occur as a result of the same cellular/metabolic function, spiculogenesis.

Surface immobilization of protein via biosilification catalyzed by silicatein fused to glutathione S-transferase (GST)

Silicatein from Suberites domuncula was known to catalyze silica deposition in vitro under near neutral pH and ambient temperature conditions. In this study, we employed GST-glutathione (GSH) interaction system to increase the production of silicatein and develop an efficient protein immobilization method. Recombinant silicatein fused with GST (GST-SIL) was produced in E. coli and the GST-SIL protein was employed on GSH-coated glass plate. GST-SIL bound surface or matrix can catalyze the formation of silica layer in the presence of tetraethyl orthosilicate as a substrate at an ambient temperature and neutral pH. During silicatein-mediated silicification, green fluorescent protein (GFP) or horseradish peroxidase (HRP) can be efficiently immobilized on the silica surface. Immobilized GFP or HRP retained their activity and were released gradually. This biocompatible silica coating technique can be employed to prepare biomolecule-immobilized surfaces or matrixes, which are useful for the development of biocatalytic, diagnostic and biosensing system, or tissue culture scaffolds.

The role of proteins in biosilicification

Although the use of silicon dioxide (silica) as a constituent of living organisms is mainly restricted to diatoms and sponges, the ways in which this process is controlled by nature continue to inspire and fascinate. Both diatoms and sponges carry out biosilificiation using an organic matrix but they adopt very different strategies. Diatoms use small and heavily modified peptides called silaffins, where the most characteristic feature is a modulation of charge by attaching long chain polyamines (LCPAs) to lysine groups. Free LCPAs can also cooperate with silaffins. Sponges use the enzyme silicatein which is homologous to the cysteine protease cathepsin. Both classes of proteins form higher-order structures which act both as structural templates and mechanistic catalysts for the polycondensation reaction. In both cases, additional proteins are continuously being discovered which modulate the process further. This paper concentrates on the role of these proteins in the biosilification process as well as in various applications, highlighting areas where focus on specific protein properties may provide further insight. The field of biosilification is a crossroads of different disciplines, where insight into the energetics and mechanisms of molecular self-assembly combine with fundamental biology, complex multicomponent colloidal systems, and an impressive array of potential technological applications.

An overview of silica in biology: its chemistry and recent technological advances

Biomineralisation is widespread in the biological world and occurs in bacteria, single-celled protists, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Minerals formed in the biological environment often show unusual physical properties (e.g. strength, degree of hydration) and often have structures that exhibit order on many length scales. Biosilica, found in single cell organisms through to higher plants and primitive animals (sponges), is formed from an environment that is undersaturated with respect to silicon and under conditions of around neutral pH and low temperature, ca. 4-40 degrees C. Formation of the mineral may occur intra- or extra-cellularly, and specific biochemical locations for mineral deposition that include lipids, proteins and carbohydrates are known. In most cases, the formation of the mineral phase is linked to cellular processes, understanding of which could lead to the design of new materials for biomedical, optical and other applications. This Chapter briefly describes the occurrence of silica in biology including known roles for the mineral phase, the chemistry of the material, the associated biomolecules and some recent applications of this knowledge in materials chemistry.The terminology which is used in this and other contributions within this volume is as follows: Si: the chemical symbol for the element and the generic term used when the nature of the specific silicon compound is not known. Si(OH) ( 4 ): orthosilicic acid, the fundamental building block used in the formation of silicas. SiO ( 2 ) x nH ( 2 ) O or SiO ( 2-x ) (OH) ( 2x ) x 2H ( 2 ) O: amorphous, hydrated, polymerised material. Oligomerisation: the formation of dimers and small oligomers from orthosilicic acid by removal of water. For example, 2Si(OH)(4) <--> (HO)(3)Si-O-Si(OH)(3) + H(2)O Polymerisation: the mutual condensation of silicic acid to give molecularly coherent units of increasing size. Organosilicon compound: must contain silicon covalently bonded to carbon within a distinct chemical species Silane: a compound having silicon atom(s) and organic chemical groups often connected through an oxygen linkage; e.g. tetrethoxy or tetramethoxysilane Silanol: hydroxyl group bonded to silicon atom Silicate: a chemically specific ion having negative charge (e.g. [Formula: see text]), term also used to describe salts (e.g. sodium silicate Na(2)SiO(3)) Opal: the term used to describe the gem-stone and often used to describe the type of amorphous silica produced by biological organisms. The two are similar in structure at the molecular level (disordered or amorphous), but at higher levels of structural organisation are distinct from one another.

Multifunctional inorganic-binding beads self-assembled inside engineered bacteria

Multifunctional shell-core nano/microbeads with a hydrophobic biopolymer core and a designed protein coat for selective binding of an inorganic substance and antibodies were self-assembled inside engineered bacteria. Hybrid genes were constructed to produce tailormade bead-coating proteins in the bacterium Escherichia coli. These fusion proteins contained a binding peptide for an inorganic material, the antibody binding ZZ domain, and a self-assembly promoting as well as biopolymer synthesizing enzyme. Production of these multidomain fusion proteins inside E. coli resulted in self-assembly of beads comprising a biopolyester core and displaying covalently bound binding sites for specific and selective binding of an inorganic substance and any antibody belonging to the immunoglobulin G class. Engineered beads were isolated and purified from the respective E. coli cells by standard cell disruption procedures. Bead morphology and the binding functionalities displayed at the bead surface were assessed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, transmission electron microscopy, elemental analysis, backscattering electron density, analytical density ultracentrifugation, and atomic force microscopy. These analyses showed that bacteria can be engineered to produce fusion proteins mediating self-assembly of spherical biopolymer beads with binding affinity to gold and/or silica and antibodies. Spherical structures of this type could conceivably serve as nano/microdevices for bioimaging in medical approaches where an antibody mediated targeted delivery of an inorganic contrast agent would be desired.