Synthetic
nanomaterials possessing biomolecular-chaperone functions
are good candidates for modulating physicochemical interactions in
many bioapplications. Despite extensive research, no general principle
to engineer nanomaterial surfaces is available to precisely manipulate
biomolecular conformations and behaviors, greatly limiting attempts
to develop high-performance nanochaperone materials. Here, we demonstrate
that, by quantifying the length (−SC
x
R±, x = 3–11) and charges
(R– = −COO–, R+ = −NH3
+) of ligands on Au25 gold nanochaperones (AuNCs), simulating binding sites and affinities
of amyloid-like peptides with AuNCs, and probing peptide folding and
fibrillation in the presence of AuNCs, it is possible to precisely
manipulate the peptides’ conformations and, thus, their amyloidosis
via customizing AuNCs nanointerfaces. We show that intermediate-length
liganded AuNCs with a specific charge chaperone peptides’ native
conformations and thus inhibit their fibrillation, while other types
of AuNCs destabilize peptides and promote their fibrillation. We offer
a microscopic molecular insight into peptide identity on AuNCs and
provide a guideline in customizing nanochaperones via manipulating
their nanointerfaces.
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