Self-Assembling Proteins for Bio-Inspired Nano-Electronics

Orateur : Vincent FORGE (Laboratoire de Chimie et Biologie des Métaux (UMR 5249), Biosciences and Biotechnology Institute of Grenoble (BIG), CEA Grenoble)

The recent discovery of conduction in bacterial nanowires connected to electrodes makes it possible to envisage the development of a protein-based electronics. Based on the architecture of these systems, we have developed a conductive nanowire (1) consisting solely of proteins, based on the association of a prion domain (not involved in a disease) capable of self-assembly in the form of amyloid fibers and a domain whose function is the transport of electrons (a rubredoxin). The self-assembly of the prion domain allows the formation of a fiber which exposes on its surface rubredoxins sufficiently close to one another (less than 1 nm) to transport the electrons by successive jumps between redox centers. Our protein nanowires allow the transport of electrons between an electrode and an enzyme over a distance of several microns. This approach should allow the development of biocompatible and biodegradable electronics, for biosensors or biofuel cells, for example.

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