State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing and the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, China University of Petroleum (East China), Changjiang West Road, Qingdao, 266580, China.
Biological Physics Laboratory, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
Small. 2018 Mar;14(12):e1703216. doi: 10.1002/smll.201703216. Epub 2018 Feb 12.
Controlling the diameters of nanotubes represents a major challenge in nanostructures self-assembled from templating molecules. Here, two series of bolaform hexapeptides are designed, with Set I consisting of Ac-KI K-NH , Ac-KI NleK-NH , Ac-KI LK-NH and Ac-KI TleK-NH , and Set II consisting of Ac-KI VK-NH , Ac-KI V K-NH , Ac-KIV K-NH and Ac-KV K-NH . In Set I, substitution for Ile in the C-terminal alters its side-chain branching, but the hydrophobicity is retained. In Set II, the substitution of Val for Ile leads to the decrease of hydrophobicity, but the side-chain β-branching is retained. The peptide bolaphiles tend to form long nanotubes, with the tube shell being composed of a peptide monolayer. Variation in core side-chain branching and hydrophobicity causes a steady shift of peptide nanotube diameters from more than one hundred to several nanometers, thereby achieving a reliable control over the underlying molecular self-assembling processes. Given the structural and functional roles of peptide tubes with varying dimensions in nature and in technological applications, this study exemplifies the predictive templating of nanostructures from short peptide self-assembly.
控制纳米管的直径是由模板分子自组装的纳米结构中面临的主要挑战。在这里，我们设计了两类葫芦脲六肽，其中 Set I 包含 Ac-KI K-NH ，Ac-KI NleK-NH ，Ac-KI LK-NH 和 Ac-KI TleK-NH ，而 Set II 包含 Ac-KI VK-NH ，Ac-KI V K-NH ，Ac-KIV K-NH 和 Ac-KV K-NH 。在 Set I 中，C 端异亮氨酸的取代改变了其侧链的分支程度，但保留了疏水性。在 Set II 中，异亮氨酸被缬氨酸取代导致疏水性降低，但保留了侧链β支化。这些肽两亲体倾向于形成长纳米管，其管壳由肽单层组成。核心侧链分支和疏水性的变化导致肽纳米管直径从一百多纳米稳定地变化到几纳米，从而实现了对底层分子自组装过程的可靠控制。鉴于具有不同尺寸的肽管在自然界和技术应用中的结构和功能作用，本研究示例说明了从短肽自组装中对纳米结构的预测性模板化。
