Bio-inspired Materials Research Laboratory (BIMREL), Department of Chemistry, Gazi University, 06500 Ankara, Turkey.
Langmuir. 2011 Oct 18;27(20):12533-8. doi: 10.1021/la202750n. Epub 2011 Sep 13.
There is an increasing interest for the utilization of biomolecules for fabricating novel nanostructures due to their ability for specific molecular recognition, biocompatibility, and ease of availability. Among these molecules, diphenylalanine (Phe-Phe) dipeptide is considered as one of the simplest molecules that can generate a family of self-assembly based nanostructures. The properties of the substrate surface, on which the self-assembly process of these peptides occurs, play a critical role. Herein, we demonstrated the influence of surface texture and functionality on the self-assembly of Phe-Phe dipeptides using smooth silicon surfaces, anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes, and poly(chloro-p-xylylene) (PPX) films having columnar and helical morphologies. We found that helical PPX films, AAO, and silicon surfaces induce similar self-assembly processes and the surface hydrophobicity has a direct influence for the final dipeptide structure whether being in an aggregated tubular form or creating a thin film that covers the substrate surface. Moreover, the dye staining data indicates that the surface charge properties and hence the mechanism of the self-assembly process are different for tubular structures as opposed to the peptidic film. We believe that our results may contribute to the control of surface-induced self-assembly of peptide molecules and this control can potentially allow the fabrication of novel peptide based materials with desired morphologies and unique functionalities for different technological applications.
由于具有特定分子识别、生物相容性和易于获得的能力，生物分子在制造新型纳米结构方面的应用越来越受到关注。在这些分子中，二苯丙氨酸（Phe-Phe）二肽被认为是可以生成一系列基于自组装的纳米结构的最简单分子之一。这些肽自组装过程发生的基底表面的性质起着关键作用。在此，我们展示了使用光滑的硅表面、阳极氧化铝 (AAO) 膜和具有柱状和螺旋形态的聚（氯对二甲苯）（PPX）薄膜来研究表面纹理和功能对 Phe-Phe 二肽自组装的影响。我们发现螺旋 PPX 薄膜、AAO 和硅表面诱导相似的自组装过程，表面疏水性直接影响最终二肽结构是聚集的管状形式还是覆盖基底表面的薄膜。此外，染料染色数据表明，管状结构的自组装过程的表面电荷性质和机制与肽膜不同。我们相信，我们的结果可能有助于控制表面诱导的肽分子自组装，这种控制可能允许制造具有所需形态和独特功能的新型基于肽的材料，以用于不同的技术应用。
