Abstract
The morphology of supramolecular peptide nanostructures is difficult to predict given their complex energy landscapes. We investigated peptide amphiphiles containing β-sheet forming domains that form twisted nanoribbons in water. We explained the morphology based on a balance between the energetically favorable packing of molecules in the center of the nanostructures, the unfavorable packing at the edges, and the deformations due to packing of twisted β-sheets. We find that morphological polydispersity of PA nanostructures is determined by peptide sequences, and the twisting of their internal β-sheets. We also observed a change in the supramolecular chirality of the nanostructures as the peptide sequence was modified, although only amino acids with l-configuration were used. Upon increasing charge repulsion between molecules, we observed a change in morphology to long cylinders and then rodlike fragments and spherical micelles. Understanding the self-assembly mechanisms of peptide amphiphiles into nanostructures should be useful to optimize their well-known functions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 6146-6155 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Nano letters |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 28 2021 |
Funding
Peptide synthesis was performed in the Peptide Synthesis Core Facility of the Simpson Querrey Institute at Northwestern University. The U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and Northwestern University provided funding to develop this facility and ongoing support is being received from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205). Portions of this work were performed at the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team (DND-CAT) located at Sector 5 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS). DND-CAT is supported by Northwestern University, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and The Dow Chemical Company. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. This work made use of the EPIC and Keck-II facilities of Northwestern NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. Peptide synthesis was performed in the Peptide Synthesis Core Facility of the Simpson Querrey Institute at Northwestern University. The U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and Northwestern University provided funding to develop this facility and ongoing support is being received from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205). Portions of this work were performed at the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team (DND-CAT) located at Sector 5 of the Advanced Photon Source (APS). DND-CAT is supported by Northwestern University E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and The Dow Chemical Company. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. This work made use of the EPIC and Keck-II facilities of Northwestern NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois through the IIN. This work was supported as part of the Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science (CBES), an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under award number DE-SC0000989.
Keywords
- nanostructure
- peptide amphiphile
- self-assembly
- supramolecular chirality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- General Chemistry
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanical Engineering