Self-assembled molecules peptide-based amphiphiles

Self-assembly of short peptide derivates and peptide-based amphiphilic molecules... 

Self-Assembly of Short Peptide Derivates and Peptide-Based Amphiphilic Molecules... 

Figure 6.3 Self-assembled nanostructures based on P-sheet (a) peptides packing into sheets and fibers based on hydrophobic interactions on one face of the molecule, and complementary ionic interaction on the other (b) peptides with alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues assemble into P-sheet structures (left) that form twisted ribbons (right) and bundle into larger fibers and (c) self-assembly based on amphiphilic triblock peptides, where the central hydrophobic block forces self-assembly via hydrophobic interactions between molecules and hydrogen bonding along the fiber axis.

Self-assembly is used to organize molecules into amazing and complex structures. Small molecular weight molecules can be assembled into structures of varying degrees from dimers and trimers all the way up to and including supramolecular polymers. Simple amphiphiles form micelles and vesicles. Dendrimers, DNA-based materials, peptides, and peptides amphiphiles have been assembled into nanostructured fibrals reminiscent of the extracellular matrix. Obviously, we cannot cover here even a fraction of the creative and functional assembled systems reported. In this section, we highlight selected symmetrical self-assembled systems to illustrate how different... 

Table 2 Designer self-assembling systems based on peptide amphiphiles molecules. ...

Peptide amphiphiles Peptide-based molecules that self-assemble into nanofibers through the presence of hydrophilic peptide regions attached to hydrophobic alkyl tails. 

Supramolecular materials are architectures consisting of molecules that are able to self-assemble into larger constructs (Lehn, 2002). Polymers as well as small molecules are able to form self-assembled structures. Supramolecular materials based on small molecules such as peptides or peptide amphiphiles are also referred to as supramolecular polymers. Despite the importance of enzyme controlled self-assembly of small molecules, these materials will not be discussed here as they are not based on conventional polymers. More information on these materials can be found in the recent literature (Roy and Ulijn, 2010 Zelzer et al., 2013). 

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