Amplification of Molecular Information through Self-Assembly: Nanofibers Formed from Amino Acids and Cyanine Dyes by Extended Molecular Pairing

摘要

Self-assembly of different chemical species plays a pivotal role in numerous biological functions. For example, chlorophyll molecules in photosynthetic complexes are noncovalently bound to peptide scaffolds that control their energy transfer to the reaction centers.[1] Heterogeneous self-assembly of bicomponent superstructures has also been demonstrated in artificial systems.[2], [3] More recently, we devised a molecular pairing technique in which the mixing of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and a cyanine dye gave exciton-delocalized nanofibers.[4] This study clearly indicates the potential capacity of small biomolecules to serve as building blocks for self-assembly.