A Review on Recent Patents and Applications of Inorganic Material Binding Peptides

Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in the identification of novel material binding peptides having affinity to a wide range of target materials and their use in nanobiotechnological innovations. These material binding peptides (MBPs), also known as solid/ substance binding peptides (SBPs) can be isolated using combinatorial display technologies such as phage display (PD), surface display (cell, bacterial, yeast, mRNA) exhibit material specific selectivity and affinity towards a range of inorganic and organic nanomaterial surfaces including metals, metal oxides, minerals, semiconductors and biomolecules. MBPs serve as mediators in bringing nanotechnology and biotechnology under one umbrella by linking solid nanoparticles with biomolecules including proteins, bioactive peptide motifs, bifunctional binding peptides, enzymes, antigens and antibody fragments. As the utilization and application of these inorganic binding peptides as molecular connectors, molecular assemblers and material specific synthesizers in nanotechnology has been expanding rapidly, so too has growing commercial interest in patenting such innovations. In this review, we present the past, current and future developments and applications of inorganic MBPs specific to nanomaterials and their applications