BIOCOMPATIBLE, BIODEGRADABLE PEPTIDES FOR HEAVY METAL TOXICITY REMOVAL

Arginine and tryptophan rich cyclic peptides have been studied for their possible usage in heavy metal toxicity removal. Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with complete geometry optimizations have been performed on these compounds to study their efficiency in heavy metal non covalent complexation. Difference ultraviolet absorption spectra results indicate that absorption band between 275-300 nm may be used to monitor metal binding. Both the theoretical results and the absorption spectra results are in conformity with 1:1 peptide-metal complex formation. It is shown that these systems may be tuned to bring about metal specificity and may serve as leads for developing biocompatible drugs for heavy metal toxicity removal.