Design of Polymer-Collagen-Like Peptide Block Copolymers for Stimuli-Responsive Assembly of Organized Nanostructures

摘要

Collagens are the most abundant fibrous protein found in mammals, endowing structural integrity, mechanical strength and various biological functions. These proteins are characterized by regularities in their amino acid sequences, with a repeating GXY triplet sequence. Every third residue is glycine and the X and Y residues are most often the imino acids proline and hydroxyproline (Hyp). Three polypeptide chains assemble to form a distinctive triple helix conformation composed of three polyproline-II-type helical chains folded around each other in a supercoiled structure. The small glycines pack in the center of the triple helix while proline and hydroxyproline facilitate puckering of the chains to fold into the triple helix(1).