Gold nanoparticles having sequential alternating amphiphilic peptide chains, Phe-(Leu-Glu) 8 , on the surface have been prepared. We described structural control of the amphiphilic peptide coated gold nanoparticle assembly by a conformational transition of the surface peptides. Under the acidic condition, the conformation of the surface amphiphilic peptide was converted to a fJ-sheet structure from an aggregated a-helix by incubation. The plasmon absorption maximum of the gold nanoparticles shifted to a shorter wavelength with the formation of the fJ-sheet assembly of the surface peptide. This suggests that the structure of the peptide coated gold nanoparticle assembly could be controlled by the conformational transition of the surface peptide. Furthermore, the core gold nanoparticle could be fixed in the fJ-sheet assembly in the state that stood alone. This system may be useful for novel molecular devices that exhibit quantized properties.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.