© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 104: 186–195, 2015.
Research associate professor Vadym Mochalin’s model of a nanodiamond appeared on the cover of the May 2015 issue of Peptide Science, a Wiley publication. The cover accompanied the article, “Solid-Phase Synthesis, Characterization, and Cellular Activities of Collagen-Model Nanodiamond-Peptide Conjugates” co-authored, along with Mochalin, by A. Knapinska, D. Tokmina-Roszyk, S. Amar, M. Tokmina-Roszyk, Distinguished University and Trustee Chair Professor Yury Gogotsi, P. Cosme, A. C. Terentis, and G. B. Fields.
Nanodiamonds (NDs) have received considerable attention as potential drug delivery vehicles. NDs are small (5 nm diameter), can be surface modified in a controllable fashion with a variety of functional groups, and have little observed toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Covalent modification provides reliable and reproducible NDbiomolecule ratios, and alleviates concerns over biomolecule desorption prior to delivery. The research presented in this article has outlined methods for the efficient solid-phase conjugation of ND to peptides and characterization of ND-peptide conjugates. Importantly, the ND-conjugated peptides retain their original biological activity. This work shows that NDs can be incorporated into peptides and proteins in a selective manner, offering the potential for the development of improved drug delivery vehicles.