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Polymers and Self Assembly: From Biology to Nanomaterials
Thursday Speaker Abstracts
Supramolecular Self-Assembly Of ß-Peptides: New Materials With Tunable Morphology
And Chemical Function
Mibel Aguilar
.
Monash Universty, Clayton, Vic, Australia.
Supramolecular self-assembly is rapidly emerging as a powerful strategy for the design of new
materials in biomedicine and engineering applications. Peptide self-assembled systems offer
significant advantages including biological compatibility, ease of synthesis, low toxicity and
functionalisability. However, the control over essential features such as chemical, structural and
metabolic stability, the scale and relatively slow rate of self-assembly remain significant
challenges. We have designed helical N-acetyl-ß3-peptides that spontaneously undergo
supramolecular self-assembly to form fibers ranging in size from nano- to macro-scale [1,2] via a
unique head-to-tail fashion which is driven by a 3-point H-bond motif associated with the 14-
helical structure of N-acetyl-ß3-peptides. In addition, the unique helical structure of the peptide
monomer allow the introduction of a wide variety of functions via modification of the side
chains of the component amino acids.
We have exploited this symmetry to design a lateral supramolecular self-assembly motif to link
the fibres in a controlled manner. We have shown that these materials can be chemically
modified in two ways, either by decorating the fibres with functional payloads or by insertion of
functional payloads into the peptide sequence, and that the resulting materials exhibit biological
activity. We also demonstrate that the superstructure morphology of a self-assembled β3-peptide,
can be tuned to yield a range of morphologies by different solvents.
1. Del Borgo MP, Mechler AI, Traore D, Forsyth C, Wilce JA, Wilce MCJ, Aguilar MI &
Perlmutter P, ‘Supramolecular Self-Assembly of N-Acetyl capped β-Peptides Leads to Nano-to
Macroscale Fibre Formation’. Angewandte Chemie Int Ed. 2013, 52 8266-.
2. Seoudi RS, Del Borgo MP, et al, Hierarchical morphology of a self-assembling tri-β3 peptide
controlled by solvent”. New J Chem. 2015, 39, 3280.