Piezoelectricity of the Transmembrane Protein ba3 Cytochrome c Oxidase |
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Authors: | Joseph O'Donnell Pierre-André Cazade Sarah Guerin Ahmed Djeghader Ehtsham Ul Haq Kai Tao Ehud Gazit Eiichi Fukada Christophe Silien Tewfik Soulimane Damien Thompson Syed A M Tofail |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Physics and Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Co. Limerick, Limerick, V94T9PX Ireland;2. Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Co. Limerick, Limerick, V94T9PX Ireland;3. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801 Israel
State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering of Zhejiang Province, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 China;4. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801 Israel;5. Laboratory of Piezoelectricity, Kobayasi Institute of Physical Research, Tokyo, 185-0022 Japan |
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Abstract: | Controlling the electromechanical response of piezoelectric biological structures including tissues, peptides, and amino acids provides new applications for biocompatible, sustainable materials in electronics and medicine. Here, the piezoelectric effect is revealed in another class of biological materials, with robust longitudinal and shear piezoelectricity measured in single crystals of the transmembrane protein ba3 cytochrome c oxidase from Thermus thermophilus. The experimental findings from piezoresponse force microscopy are substantiated using a range of control measurements and molecular models. The observed longitudinal and shear piezoelectric responses of ≈ 2 and 8 pm V?1, respectively, are comparable to or exceed the performance of commonly used inorganic piezoelectric materials including quartz, aluminum nitride, and zinc oxide. This suggests that transmembrane proteins may provide, in addition to physiological energy transduction, technologically useful piezoelectric material derived entirely from nature. Membrane proteins could extend the range of rationally designed biopiezoelectric materials far beyond the minimalistic peptide motifs currently used in miniaturized energy harvesters, and the finding of robust piezoelectric response in a transmembrane protein also raises fundamental questions regarding the molecular evolution, activation, and role of regulatory proteins in the cellular nanomachinery, indicating that piezoelectricity might be important for fundamental physiological processes. |
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Keywords: | functional biomaterials materials design organic piezoelectrics piezoresponse force microscopy predictive modeling transmembrane proteins |
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