Programmed mineralization of metal-oxides by de novo designed protein templates

Two designed protein interfaces promote hematite growth under conditions that typically yield magnetite, and three interfaces enable heterogeneous ZnO nucleation where ZnO-binding peptides and control proteins fail.

• Why it matters: Mineralizing metal oxides with protein templates is challenging, especially for materials not present in biology, and existing ZnO-binding strategies are ineffective under relevant conditions.
• What they did: The team used a coupled de novo design and screening workflow to find interfaces for specific metal-oxide mineralization, then used cryo-electron microscopy to examine a ZnO-nucleating designed nanocage.
• The result: In the nanocage, atomic density likely corresponding to growing ZnO appears directly adjacent to the designed interfaces, suggesting templating beyond electrostatics via ordering ions and water molecules.

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