Synthetic equivalents of such peptides are engineered to bind metal ions and display a variety of physical, chemical, and biological reactivity and characteristics.
[7] De novo designed peptides which self-assemble in the presence of copper (Cu), forming supramolecular assemblies were presented by Korendovych et al.[8] Additionally there are examples of metallopeptides that are, at least partially, composed of non-natural amino acids with possible applications in drug discovery and biomaterials.
[9] Being a type of molecules that are often only activated for biological and chemical function following metal-binding, the specific coordination of metal ions imposes certain restrictions and requirements onto metallopeptides.
The research on metal-binding of peptides ranges from coordination of biometals (such as Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc, Sodium, Potassium, and Iron) to heavy metals (such as Arsenic, Mercury, and Cadmium).
Amongst which are circular dichroism (CD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and mass spectrometry (MS).