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Conformation- and phosphorylation-dependent electron tunnelling across self-assembled monolayers of tau peptides

Ashkarran, A. A ; Sharif University of Technology | 2022

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.09.185
  3. Publisher: Academic Press Inc , 2022
  4. Abstract:
  5. We report on charge transport across self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of short tau peptides by probing the electron tunneling rates and quantum mechanical simulation. We measured the electron tunneling rates across SAMs of carboxyl-terminated linker molecules (C6H12O2S) and short cis-tau (CT) and trans-tau (TT) peptides, supported on template-stripped gold (AuTS) bottom electrode, with Eutectic Gallium-Indium (EGaIn)(EGaIn) top electrode. Measurements of the current density across thousands of AuTS/linker/tau//Ga2O3/EGaIn single-molecule junctions show that the tunneling current across CT peptide is one order of magnitude lower than that of TT peptide. Quantum mechanical simulation demonstrated a wider energy bandgap of the CT peptide, as compared to the TT peptide, which causes a reduction in its electron tunneling current. Our findings also revealed the critical role of phosphorylation in altering the charge transport characteristics of short peptides; more specifically, we found that the presence of phosphate groups can reduce the energy band gap in tau peptides and alter their electrical properties. Our results suggest that conformational and phosphorylation of short peptides (e.g., tau) can significantly change their charge transport characteristics and energy levels. © 2021 Elsevier Inc
  6. Keywords:
  7. Charge transport ; Conformation ; Quantum mechanical simulation ; Carrier transport ; Charge transfer ; Conformations ; Electrodes ; Electron tunneling ; Energy gap ; Molecules ; Phosphorylation ; Quantum chemistry ; Scanning tunneling microscopy ; Self assembled monolayers ; Bottom electrodes ; Cis-tau peptide ; Energy bandgaps ; Linker molecules ; Measurements of ; Quantum-mechanical simulation ; Single-molecule junctions ; Trans-tau peptide ; Tunneling current ; Tunneling rates ; Peptides ; Self assembled monolayer ; Tau protein ; Peptide ; Carboxy terminal sequence ; Comparative study ; Controlled study ; Current density ; Electron ; Protein conformation ; Protein phosphorylation ; Quantum mechanics ; Simulation ; Electrons ; Gallium ; Indium
  8. Source: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science ; Volume 606 , 2022 , Pages 2038-2050 ; 00219797 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021979721016519