BIOCOMPATIBLE, BIODEGRADABLE PEPTIDES FOR HEAVY METAL TOXICITY REMOVAL
ANTARA BANERJEE
Department of Chemistry, University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur 208024, India
PRAVEEN BHAI PATEL
Department of Chemical Engineering, University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur 208024, India
YOUSEF BENI
Department of Chemistry, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN 37209, USA
AMIR NASROLAHI SHIRAZI
Chapman University, School of Pharmacy, Irvine, CA 92618, USA
KEYKAVOUS PARANG
Chapman University, School of Pharmacy, Irvine, CA 92618, USA
ARPITA YADAV *
Department of Chemistry, University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur 208024, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Arginine and tryptophan rich cyclic peptides have been studied for their possible usage in heavy metal toxicity removal. Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with complete geometry optimizations have been performed on these compounds to study their efficiency in heavy metal non covalent complexation. Difference ultraviolet absorption spectra results indicate that absorption band between 275-300 nm may be used to monitor metal binding. Both the theoretical results and the absorption spectra results are in conformity with 1:1 peptide-metal complex formation. It is shown that these systems may be tuned to bring about metal specificity and may serve as leads for developing biocompatible drugs for heavy metal toxicity removal.
Keywords: Cyclic peptides, tryptophan arginine rich, HartreeFock, difference absorption spectra