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Published June 2016 | Published + Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Production and electrical characterization of the reflectin A2 isoform from Doryteuthis (Loligo) pealeii

Abstract

Cephalopods have recently emerged as a source of inspiration for the development of novel functional materials. Within this context, a number of studies have explored structural proteins known as reflectins, which play a key role in cephalopod adaptive coloration in vivo and exhibit interesting properties in vitro. Herein, we report an improved high-yield strategy for the preparation and isolation of reflectins in quantities sufficient for materials applications. We first select the Doryteuthis (Loligo) pealeii reflectin A2 (RfA2) isoform as a "model" system and validate our approach for the expression and purification of this protein. We in turn fabricate RfA2-based two-terminal devices and employ both direct and alternating current measurements to demonstrate that RfA2 films conduct protons. Our findings underscore the potential of reflectins as functional materials and may allow a wider range of researchers to investigate their properties.

Additional Information

© 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry. Received 29th February 2016. Accepted 28th May 2016. We thank Professor Albert Yee's Laboratory for the use of their optical microscope. We are grateful to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-14-1-0144) for its Financial support. W. G. W. IV acknowledges the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (DBI1306188) for its financial support.

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Published - c6ra05405f.pdf

Supplemental Material - c6ra05405f1.pdf

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August 20, 2023
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