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Responsive gels formed by the spontaneous self-assembly of peptides into polymeric β-sheet tapes

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Abstract

Molecular self-assembly is becoming an increasingly popular route to new supramolecular structures and molecular materials1–7. The inspiration for such structures is commonly derived from self-assembling systems in biology. Here we show that a biological motif, the peptide β-sheet, can be exploited in designed oligopeptides that self-assemble into polymeric tapes and with potentially useful mechanical properties. We describe the construction of oligopeptides, rationally designed or based on segments of native proteins, that aggregate in suitable solvents into long, semi-flexible β-sheet tapes. These become entangled even at low volume fractions to form gels whose viscoelastic properties can be controlled by chemical (pH) or physical (shear) influences. We suggest that it should be possible to engineer a wide range of properties in these gels by appropriate choice of the peptide primary structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Self-Organising Molecular Systems, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    A. Aggeli, M. Bell, N. Boden, J. N. Keen, P. F. Knowles, T. C. B. McLeish & S. E. Radford

  2. School of Chemistry, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    N. Boden

  3. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    J. N. Keen, P. F. Knowles & S. E. Radford

  4. Department of Physics, The University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    T. C. B. McLeish

  5. Oxford Centre for Molecular Sciences and New Chemistry Laboratory, The University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QT, UK

    M. Pitkeathly

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  1. A. Aggeli
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  2. M. Bell
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  3. N. Boden
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  6. T. C. B. McLeish
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  7. M. Pitkeathly
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  8. S. E. Radford
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Aggeli, A., Bell, M., Boden, N. et al. Responsive gels formed by the spontaneous self-assembly of peptides into polymeric β-sheet tapes. Nature 386, 259–262 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/386259a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/386259a0

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