Mimicking the function of eggshell matrix proteins: The role of multiplets of charged amino acid residues and self-assembly of peptides in biomineralization

Abstract

(Figure Presented) An eggshell finish: Designed peptides can be used as a tool to unravel the structure-activity relationships of eggshell matrix proteins. The ordered arrangement of doublets of charged residues on the peptide and its self-assembling characteristics play a key role in the biomimetic nucleation of polycrystalline calcite crystal aggregates (see picture), which models that initiated by the goose eggshell matrix protein, ansocalcin. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.