Aqueous hydrophobicity-controlled self-assembly of supramolecular peptide nanotubes Min Zeng , Yixuan Cheng, Prof. Sébastien Perrier Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Peptides have been widely used to generate synthetic materials mimicking natural nanomaterials and their fascinating properties. One path is to use the self-assembly of peptides to direct supramolecular assemblies into nanomaterials, although controlling such process is still challenging, especially when compared to the versatility of natural materials. Our group focuses on the use of cyclic peptide-polymer conjugates, which stack via hydrogen bonds between cyclic peptides to form nanotubes, with an outer shell functionality defined by the polymeric chains. Here, we present an innovative and facile strategy to regulate the self-assembly of these cyclic peptide nanotubes, by introducing a hydrophobic linker group positioned between the polymer and the cyclic peptide. Both a small alkyl group and hydrophobic oligomer were introduced to the cyclic peptide-polymer conjugates. The hydrophobic ‘inner shell’ prevents the diffusion of water molecules to the peptide backbone, thus avoiding the water molecules to disrupt the inter peptide H-bonds, which are responsible for the self-assembly of cyclic peptides into stable nanotubes. This approach proves to be an effective strategy to control the self-assembly behaviour of these peptide nanotubes.
P62
© The Author(s), 2023
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