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Science. 1999 Nov 5;286(5442):1059, 1061.
Polycationic peptides from diatom biosilica that direct silica nanosphere formation.
Lehrstuhl Biochemie I, Universität Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany. nils.kroeger@vkl.uni-regensburg.de
Diatom cell walls are regarded as a paradigm for controlled production of nanostructured silica, but the mechanisms allowing biosilicification to proceed at ambient temperature at high rates have remained enigmatic. A set of polycationic peptides (called silaffins) isolated from diatom cell walls were shown to generate networks of silica nanospheres within seconds when added to a solution of silicic acid. Silaffins contain covalently modified lysine-lysine elements. The first lysine bears a polyamine consisting of 6 to 11 repeats of the N-methyl-propylamine unit. The second lysine was identified as epsilon-N,N-dimethyl-lysine. These modifications drastically influence the silica-precipitating activity of silaffins.
PMID: 10550045 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Cited by 13 PubMed Central articles
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Encapsulated in silica: genome, proteome and physiology of the thermophilic bacterium Anoxybacillus flavithermus WK1.
Saw JH, Mountain BW, Feng L, Omelchenko MV, Hou S, Saito JA, Stott MB, Li D, Zhao G, Wu J, et al.
Genome Biol. 2008; 9(11):R161. Epub 2008 Nov 17.
[Genome Biol. 2008]
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From biosilicification to tailored materials: optimizing hydrophobic domains and resistance to protonation of polyamines.
Belton DJ, Patwardhan SV, Annenkov VV, Danilovtseva EN, Perry CC.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Apr 22; 105(16):5963-8. Epub 2008 Apr 17.
[Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008]
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Mining the diatom genome for the mechanism of biosilicification.
Brzezinski MA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 5; 105(5):1391-2. Epub 2008 Jan 29.
[Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008]
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