Self-assembled, generally

Pseudorotaxanes are interlaced compounds in which a filamentous ligand is threaded through a cyclic one. Their one-step synthesis by self-assembly generally involves a rings-and-strings ... 

The power of optical spectroscopies is that they are often much better developed than their electron-, ion- and atom-based counterparts, and therefore provide results that are easier to interpret. Furtlienuore, photon-based teclmiques are uniquely poised to help in the characterization of liquid-liquid, liquid-solid and even solid-solid interfaces generally inaccessible by other means. There has certainly been a renewed interest in the use of optical spectroscopies for the study of more realistic systems such as catalysts, adsorbates, emulsions, surfactants, self-assembled layers, etc. 

An even coarser description is attempted in Ginzburg-Landau-type models. These continuum models describe the system configuration in temis of one or several, continuous order parameter fields. These fields are thought to describe the spatial variation of the composition. Similar to spin models, the amphiphilic properties are incorporated into the Flamiltonian by construction. The Flamiltonians are motivated by fiindamental synnnetry and stability criteria and offer a unified view on the general features of self-assembly. The universal, generic behaviour—tlie possible morphologies and effects of fluctuations, for instance—rather than the description of a specific material is the subject of these models. 

Surface properties are generally considered to be controlled by the outermost 0.5—1.0 nm at a polymer film (344). A logical solution, therefore, is to use self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as model polymer surfaces. To understand fully the breadth of surface interactions, a portfoHo of chemical functionahties is needed. SAMs are especially suited for the studies of interfacial phenomena owing to the fine control of surface functional group concentration. 

In contrast to static properties, where LP and GM reveal generally the same behavior as that of conventional polymers, due to the self-assembling nature of the breakdown process the transport properties of GM are much more complex. Like conventional polymers, these materials are highly viscoelastic [73,74] and their novel rheology has been intensively studied recently, both experimentally [75,76] and theoretically [11,31,77-79]. A theoretical model... 

The distinctive properties of densely tethered chains were first noted by Alexander [7] in 1977. His theoretical analysis concerned the end-adsorption of terminally functionalized polymers on a flat surface. Further elaboration by de Gennes [8] and by Cantor [9] stressed the utility of tethered chains to the description of self-assembled block copolymers. The next important step was taken by Daoud and Cotton [10] in 1982 in a model for star polymers. This model generalizes the... 

Coacervation occurs in tropoelastin solutions and is a precursor event in the assembly of elastin nanofibrils [42]. This phenomenon is thought to be mainly due to the interaction between hydro-phobic domains of tropoelastin. In scanning electron microscopy (SEM) picmres, nanofibril stmc-tures are visible in coacervate solutions of elastin-based peptides [37,43]. Indeed, Wright et al. [44] describe the self-association characteristics of multidomain proteins containing near-identical peptide repeat motifs. They suggest that this form of self-assembly occurs via specific intermolecular association, based on the repetition of identical or near-identical amino acid sequences. This specificity is consistent with the principle that ordered molecular assembhes are usually more stable than disordered ones, and with the idea that native-like interactions may be generally more favorable than nonnative ones in protein aggregates. 

The way that Pn peptides self-assemble is important for polypeptides and proteins amyloid-type structures are believed to have the same core stmcture, and in fact the propensity to self-assemble in this manner is hypothesized to be a general property of polypeptides [52]. It is therefore unsurprising that systems featuring this motif are common. In recent years, a push towards the use of peptide-based self-assembled materials has led to increasing interest in extending their functionality by derivatising them. 

In this case, the restriction of peptide self-assembly was both desired, and by design. More generally, when looking to modify peptides and retain their self-assembly, where modifications are incompatible with assembly, post-assembly strategies will be necessary. 

Micellar nanocarriers have already been applied successfully for delivery of hydro-phobic drugs [86]. These carriers are usually the product of self-assembled block copolymers, consisting of a hydrophilic block and a hydrophobic block. Generally, an ELP with a transition temperature below body temperature is used as hydrophobic block and the hydrophilic block can be an ELP with a transition temperature above body temperature or another peptide or protein. The EPR effect also directs these types of carriers towards tumor tissue. 

This comparative study pointed out molecular close packing as a key parameter responsible for the thermal stability of proteins in films. In the case of BR, this close packing is reached due to the nature of the sample, while LB organization seems to be a more general procedure, for the same goal can be reached for practically any type of protein sample. The last statement was even confirmed by the comparison of the thermal behavior of extracted separated BR in self-assembled and LB films. It was found that BR in LB films is more stable for this kind of sample. The results will be reported in detail elsewhere. 

The general structural characteristics of ribosomes and their self-assembly process are discussed in Chapter 37. These particulate entities serve as the machinery on which the mRNA nucleotide sequence is translated into the sequence of amino acids of the specified protein. 

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