A variety of control elements that can direct the self-assembly of biomineralization peptides are available. The control element can be a small organic molecule such as a biphenyl, or a peptide segment such as the p53 tetramerization domain or the amyloid peptide. The high diversity of existing control elements further increases the ability of peptide-mediated biomineralization to create functional nanomaterials.

The physical and chemical properties of silver nanomaterials are highly dependent on their shape and size. Recently, Ag nanoparticles have been reported to be useful for medicinal and pharmaceutical applications including anticancer activity. In this study, we showed that Ag nanoplates possess significantly higher antiproliferative activity on human promyelocytic leukemia cells, HL-60, than spherical nanoparticles. The triangular Ag nanoplates induced apoptosis in the cells and were located in the same subcellular compartment as the spherical Ag nanoparticles