A Protease-Responsive Polymer/Peptide Conjugate and Reversible Assembly of Silver Clusters for the Detection of Porphyromonas gingivalis Enzymatic Activity

We report the reversible aggregation of silver nanoparticle (AgNP) assemblies using the combination of a cationic arginine-based peptide and sulfur-capped polyethylene glycol (PEG). The formation and dissociation of the aggregates were studied by optical methods and electron microscopy. The dissociation of silver clusters depends on the peptide sequence and PEG size. A molecular weight of 1 kDa for PEG was optimal for the dissociation. The most important feature of this dissociation method is that it can operate in complex biofluids such as plasma, saliva, bile, urine, cell media, or even seawater without a significant decrease in performance. Moreover, the peptide–particle assemblies are highly stable and do not degrade (or express of loss of signal upon dissociation) when dried and resolubilized, frozen and thawed, or left in daylight for a month. Importantly, the dissociation capacity of PEG can be reduced via the conjugation of a peptide-cleavable substrate. The dissociation capacity is restored in the presence of an enzyme. Based on these findings, we designed a PEG-peptide hybrid molecule specific to the Porphyromonas gingivalis protease RgpB. Our motivation was that this bacterium is a key pathogen in periodontitis, and RgpB activity has been correlated with chronic diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. The RgpB limit of detection was 100 pM RgpB in vitro. This system was used to measure RgpB in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples with a detection rate of 40% with 0% false negatives versus PCR for P. gingivalis (n = 37). The combination of PEG-peptide and nanoparticles dissociation method allows the development of convenient protease sensing that can operate independently of the media composition.