Non-conventional fluorescent biogenic and synthetic polymers without aromatic rings
Creators
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1.
Institute for Advanced Study
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2.
Institute of Molecular Functional Materials
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3.
California Institute of Technology
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4.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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5.
South China University of Technology
Abstract
Non-conventional fluorescent materials without aromatic structures have attracted much research attention in recent years. However, the working mechanism responsible for their fluorescence remains mysterious. Here we decipher the origin of fluorescence by studying the photophysical properties of a series of non-aromatic biogenic and synthetic peptides. An experimental study suggests that the turn-on fluorescence in the aggregation state/condensed phase is associated with the communication of amide groups, where hydrogen bonds are playing a critical role in bringing these functionalities into close proximity. This explanation is further justified by the study of the hierarchical influence on fluorescence and applied to biomimetic polymers in a more general content. This discovery provides a more comprehensive insight into the bioluminescence system. It may stimulate future development of new fluorescent materials, and inspire research on disease diagnostics, biomechanics measurements, etc. that are associated with protein morphology.
Additional Information
© 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Received 24 Jan 2017, Accepted 07 Feb 2017, First published online 08 Feb 2017. This work was partially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2013CB834701 and 2013CB834702), the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (AoE/P-03/08), the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITCCNERC14S01), the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (16301614, 16305015 and N_HKUST604/14), and the Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program (201101C0105067115). YL acknowledges the support from the Resnick Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship at Caltech. This work used computational resources of NREL Peregrine, DOE NERSC, and NSF XSEDE. Author contributions: R. Y. and B. T. designed the experiments. R. Y. synthesized all the oligopeptides, polypeptides, and biomimetic polymers, and obtained the NMR, FTIR, PL emission spectra. Y. L. and W. A. G. carried out the theoretical modelling and calculation. R. Y. and H. Z. obtained the CD spectra. H. S. obtained the confocal images. L. X. and R. H. performed the fluorescence lifetime measurement. Y. Z. and K. S. W. performed the quantum yield measurement. R. T. K. K. and J. W. Y. L. revised the manuscript. R. Y. and B. T. wrote the manuscript with comments from all authors.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - c7py00154a1.pdf
Supplemental Material - c7py00154a2.mp4
Supplemental Material - c7py00154a3.mp4
Files
c7py00154a1.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 74458
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170222-090600137
Funding
- National Basic Research Program of China
- 2013CB834701
- National Basic Research Program of China
- 2013CB834702
- University Grants Committee of Hong Kong
- AoE/P-03/08
- Innovation and Technology Commission
- ITCCNERC14S01
- Research Grants Council of Hong Kong
- 16301614
- Research Grants Council of Hong Kong
- 16305015
- Research Grants Council of Hong Kong
- N_HKUST604/14
- Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program
- 201101C0105067115
- Resnick Sustainability Institute
Dates
- Created
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2017-02-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-11Created from EPrint's last_modified field