Raman and surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy on horns and their correlation with biomechanical properties

Abstract

Recently horns are considered as potential candidates for various biomedical applications because of their distinct biomechanical properties. We therefore performed Raman spectral analysis and mechanical test on the horns of buffalo, cattle and sheep to obtain information about the molecular compositions in various parts of the horns and their correlation with biomechanical properties. We also developed a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to trace their degradation products. We found that various parts of the horns have similar overall molecular compositions, but have differences in the bands of C-C-S-S-C-C conformation, α-helix and β-sheet conformation, especially in the bands of 507-515 cm À1 which reflect the relative sulfur content and the structural conformation of the disulfide linkages. The Raman intensities at the region are highly correlated with the Young's modulus and tensile strength of the horns, indicating that the biomechanical properties of the horns are mainly determined by their disulfide bonds. It also suggests that Raman spectroscopy has the potential to perform non-destructive detection on the mechanical strength of horns. The SERS measurements verified that the main constituents of the degradation products from both the buffalo and sheep horns were amino acids and polypeptides, suggesting that the horns are suitable candidates for biomaterial scaffolds.

Exploiting Redox-Complementary Peptide/Polyoxometalate Coacervates for Spontaneously Curing into Antimicrobial Adhesives

“…The Raman spectra of P1 , PMoV, and the solid-like P1 /PMoV complex are shown in Figure . The individual P1 gave a typical peak of the thiol group at 2574 cm –1 (Figure a), which disappeared in the case of the solid-like P1 /PMoV complex. , Instead, a new band assigned to the stretching mode of the disulfide bond appeared at 510 cm –1 (Figure b). , Raman peaks at 818 and 992 cm –1 were assigned to the stretching mode of PMoV (Figure c). After mixing with P1 , the stretching peaks of PMoV shifted to 893 and 993 cm –1 (Figure b) possibly due to the P1 -induced reduction of PMoV.…”

“…The individual P1 gave a typical peak of the thiol group at 2574 cm −1 (Figure 4a), which disappeared in the case of the solid-like P1/PMoV complex. 52,53 Instead, a new band assigned to the stretching mode of the disulfide bond appeared at 510 cm −1 (Figure 4b). 52,53 Raman peaks at 818 and 992 cm −1 were assigned to the stretching mode of PMoV (Figure 4c).…”

“…52,53 Instead, a new band assigned to the stretching mode of the disulfide bond appeared at 510 cm −1 (Figure 4b). 52,53 Raman peaks at 818 and 992 cm −1 were assigned to the stretching mode of PMoV (Figure 4c). After mixing with P1, the stretching peaks of PMoV shifted to 893 and 993 cm −1 (Figure 4b) possibly due to the P1-induced reduction of PMoV.…”

The Study of Mechanical Behaviors of Caprinae Horn Sheath under Pendulum Impact

“…Wg-hs exhibited a higher average value of impact strength (~16 kJ m −2 ) than that of Cg-hs and Bs-hs in the dried specimen group. According to the previous works [21,32,33], horn sheath owns multi-scale structure including protein secondary structure, wavy-shaped interface, keratinized fibre and other feature structures (e.g., Tubules). The secondary structure was evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (Figure 4) and the calculated content of β-sheet were shown in Table 2.…”

Recent advances in linear and non‐linear Raman spectroscopy. Part XI

“…Zhou et al reported using Raman and SERS on horns and their correlation with biomechanical properties. SERS measurements verified that the main constituents of the degradation products from both buffalo and sheep horns were amino acids and polypeptides, suggesting that these horns are suitable candidates for biomaterial scaffolds …”