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Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access originally published online on August 5, 2009
Journal of Biochemistry 2009 146(5):627-631; doi:10.1093/jb/mvp121
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© The Authors 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japanese Biochemical Society. All rights reserved

Rapid Communications

Vimentin Intermediate Filaments as a Template for Silica Nanotube Preparation

Rumi Gohara1, Dian Liu2, Kenichi Nakashima2, Yozo Takasaki1 and Shoji Ando1,*

1Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Nabeshima, Saga 849-8501; and 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Saga University, Honjo-machi, Saga 840-8502, Japan

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81-952-34-2192, Fax: +81-952-34-2418, E-mail: andohs{at}cc.saga-u.ac.jp

Received July 8, 2009; Accepted July 25, 2009


  Abstract

Organic compounds are used as templates to regulate the morphology of inorganic nanostructures. In the present study, we used intermediate filaments (IFs), the major cytoskeleton component of most eukaryotic cells, as a template for hollow silica nanotube preparation. Sol–gel polymerization of tetraethoxysilane proceeded preferentially on the surface of IFs assembled from vimentin protein in vitro, resulting in silica-coated fibres. After removing IFs by calcination, electron microscopy revealed hollow silica nanotubes several micrometers long, with outer diameters of 35–55 nm and an average inner diameter of 10 nm (comparable to that of IFs). Furthermore, the silica nanotubes exhibited a gnarled surface structure with an 18–26 nm repeating pattern (comparable to the 21-nm beading pattern along IFs). Thus, the characteristic morphology of IFs were well replicated into hollow silica nanotubes, suggesting that IFs maybe useful as an organic template.

Key Words: intermediate filaments, nanotube, silica, sol–gel polymerization, vimentin

Abbreviations: AFM, atomic force microscopy; IF, intermediate filament; TEM, transmission electron microscopy; TEOS, tetraethoxysilane


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