Modeling the Cooperative Adsorption of Solid-Binding Proteins on Silica: Molecular Insights from Surface Plasmon Resonance Measurements

Combinatorially selected solid-binding peptides (SBPs) provide a versatile route for synthesizing advanced materials and devices, especially when they are installed within structurally or functionally useful protein scaffolds. However, their promise has not been fully realized because we lack a predictive understanding of SBP-material interactions. Thermodynamic and kinetic binding parameters obtained by fitting quartz crystal microbalance and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) data with the Langmuir model whose assumptions are rarely satisfied provide limited information on underpinning molecular interactions. Using SPR, we show here that a technologically useful SBP called Car9 confers proteins to which is fused a sigmoidal adsorption behavior modulated by partner identity, quaternary structure, and ionic strength. We develop a two-step cooperative model that accurately captures the kinetics of silica binding and provides insights into how SBP–SBP interactions, fused scaffold, and solution conditions modulate adsorption. Because cooperative binding can be converted to Langmuir adhesion by mutagenesis, our approach offers a path to identify and to better understand and design practically useful SBPs.