Bioactive molecular sheets from self-assembly of polymerizable peptides

摘要

We have demonstrated that polymerizable peptides self-assemble into a unique sheet-like 2D structure in bulk solution that can be covalently fixed to produce 2D molecular objects which were shown to be efficient at delivering cargos into living cells and are nearly nontoxic in contrast to non-polymerized nanostructures.rnSelf-assembly of biomolecular building blocks plays an important role in the discovery of new biomaterials and scaffolds, with a wide range of applications in nanotechnology and medical technologies. Especially, coating nanostructures with peptides endows them with unique opportunities to explore the vast biological events that peptides mediate. In recent years, a few research groups have reported a 2D sheet structure formed by peptide self-assembly. Because the peptide 2D sheet structure has some implications for biology and for biomaterial research, such as slow-diffusion drug delivery systems and artificial skin, this research field possesses great potential. Recently, we reported biomolecular building blocks consisting of the Tat cell penetrating peptide (Tat CPP) and a hydrophobic lipid dendrimer.