Peptide-polymer conjugates are hybrid materials engineered to impart the unique properties of their constituent components. Peptide self-assembly provides control over the three-dimensional supramolecular structure and enables a route for encoded, sequence specific assembly. Coiled-coil peptide bundles, referred to here as <i>bundlemers</i>, consist of intertwining alpha helical strands and are advantageous due to their rigidity, environmental responsiveness, and tunability with respect to incorporation and placement of different functional groups. Here, we describe utilizing bundlemers as macro-initiators to implement the “grafting-from” method to synthesize peptide-polymer conjugates via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) reactions in aqueous media. The dependability of bundlemer assembly combined with molar mass control and low dispersity of the ATRP chains produce tunable, responsive macromolecular structures. The resulting polymeric material is responsive to environmental cues such as changes in temperature, pH, and salt concentration, thus it is an ideal candidate for bio-therapeutic applications.

Bundlemer grafts: Coiled-coil peptide-polymer conjugates

2019 Fall National Meeting

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