Hexagonally Ordered Arrays of α-Helical Bundles Formed from Peptide-Dendron Hybrids

J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Nov 8;139(44):15977-15983. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b09737. Epub 2017 Oct 24.

Abstract

Combining monodisperse building blocks that have distinct folding properties serves as a modular strategy for controlling structural complexity in hierarchically organized materials. We combine an α-helical bundle-forming peptide with self-assembling dendrons to better control the arrangement of functional groups within cylindrical nanostructures. Site-specific grafting of dendrons to amino acid residues on the exterior of the α-helical bundle yields monodisperse macromolecules with programmable folding and self-assembly properties. The resulting hybrid biomaterials form thermotropic columnar hexagonal mesophases in which the peptides adopt an α-helical conformation. Bundling of the α-helical peptides accompanies self-assembly of the peptide-dendron hybrids into cylindrical nanostructures. The bundle stoichiometry in the mesophase agrees well with the size found in solution for α-helical bundles of peptides with a similar amino acid sequence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Dendrimers / chemical synthesis
  • Dendrimers / chemistry*
  • Liquid Crystals / chemistry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical

Substances

  • Dendrimers
  • Peptides