The long and successful journey of electrochemically active amino adds. From fundamental adsorption studies to potential surface engineering tools

Autor(es)

Dourado, Andre H. B. ; Pastrian, Fabian C. ; Cordoba De Torresi, Susana L.

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências; v. 90, n. 1, p. 24-pg., 2018-01-01.

Resumo

Proteins have been the subject of electrochemical studies. It is possible to apply electrochemical techniques to obtain information about their structure due to the presence of five electroactive amino acids that can be oriented to the outside of the peptidic chain. These amino acids are L-Tryptophan (L-Trp), L-Tyrosine (L-Tyr), L-Histidine (L-His), L-Methionine (L-Met) and L-Cysteine (L-Cys); their electrochemical behavior being subject of extensive research, but it is still controversial. No spectroscopic investigations have been reported on L-Trp, and due to the short life time of the intermediates, ex situ techniques cannot be employed, leading to a never-ending discussion about possible intermediates, in the L-Tyr and L-His cases, spectroelectrochemical studies were performed and different intermediates were observed, suggesting that some intermediates may be observed under specific conditions, as proposed for L-Cys. This amino acid is the most interesting among the electroactive ones because of the presence of a thiol moiety at its side chain, leading to a wide range of oxidation states. It can adsorb onto surfaces of different crystallographic orientation in stereoselective conformation, modifying the surface for different applications as a surface engineering tool since it plays the role of as an anchor for the growing of nanocrystals inside proteic templates. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/26308-7 - Otimização das propriedades físico-químicas de materiais nano-estruturados e suas aplicações em reconhecimento molecular, catálise e conversão/armazenamento de energia
• Beneficiário: Roberto Manuel Torresi
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 13/25592-8 - Estudo da adsorção de L-cisteína e L-cistina sobre eletrodo de platina
• Beneficiário: André Henrique Baraldi Dourado
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado Direto