The formation of ordered nanostructures, with unique physical properties, by the molecular self-assembly of proteins and peptides represents one of the principal directions in nanotechnology.1 Indeed, polyamides provide superior features as materials with diverse physical properties. A reductionist approach allowed the identification of extremely short peptide sequences, as short as dipeptides, which could form well-ordered amyloid-like β-sheet-rich assemblies comparable to supramolecular structures made of much larger proteins. Some of the peptide assemblies show remarkable mechanical, optical, and electrical characteristics.2 Another direction of reductionism utilized a natural noncoded amino acid, α-aminoisobutryic acid, to form short superhelical assemblies. The use of this exceptional helix inducer motif allowed the fabrication of single heptad repeats used in various biointerfaces, including their use as surfactants and DNA-binding agents. Two additional directions of the reductionist approach include the use of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) and co-assembly techniques.3,4 Finally, our reductionist approach also led to the development of metabolite (amino acid and nucleobase based materials).5

Molecular self-assembly of metabolites and peptides: Physiology, pathology, and nanotechnology

2019 Spring National Meeting

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