Issue 43, 2016

Recombinant perlucin derivatives influence the nucleation of calcium carbonate

Abstract

Proteins are known to play various key roles in the formation of complex inorganic solids during natural biomineralisation processes. However, in most cases our understanding of the actual underlying mechanisms is rather limited. One interesting example is perlucin, a protein involved in the formation of nacre, where it is believed to promote the crystallisation of calcium carbonate. In the present work, we have used potentiometric titration assays to systematically investigate the influence of recombinant GFP-labeled perlucin derivatives on the early stages of CaCO3 formation. Our results indicate that different parts of the protein can impact nucleation in distinct ways and act in either a retarding or promoting fashion. The most important finding is that full-length GFP-perlucin changes the nature of the initially precipitated phase and seems to favour the direct formation of crystalline polymorphs over nucleation of ACC and subsequent phase transformation, as observed in reference experiments without protein. This confirms the supposed role of perlucin in nacre biomineralisation and may rely on specific interactions between the protein and the crystal lattice of the emerging mineral phase.

Graphical abstract: Recombinant perlucin derivatives influence the nucleation of calcium carbonate

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Aug 2016
Accepted
11 Oct 2016
First published
11 Oct 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

CrystEngComm, 2016,18, 8439-8444

Recombinant perlucin derivatives influence the nucleation of calcium carbonate

E. Weber, I. M. Weiss, H. Cölfen and M. Kellermeier, CrystEngComm, 2016, 18, 8439 DOI: 10.1039/C6CE01878E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements