PeriodicallySequencedPeptides-ANew(ish)ToolforNanoscaleMaterials
Synthesis
Dr.RaymondSTu
AssociateProfessor
CCNY-DeptofChemicalEngineering
Periodicallysequencedpeptidescanbeconfinedtointerfacesandassembledinto
patternsthatpresentchemicalfunctionalitieswithexceptionalspatialprecision.
Theserationallydesignedpeptidesandpolypeptidesarerapidlybecominguseful
componentsinnanostructuredmaterialsforapplicationsrangingfromdrug
deliverytoenergystorage.Thispresentationwillexamineseveralfundamental
aspectsofself-assemblyandpatternformationofwell-definedsheetforming
peptidesconfinedatinterfaces.Ourapproachinvolvesthreesteps.(1)Wedesign
andsynthesizesimpleperiodicpeptidesequences,yieldingsurface-activeβ-strands
thatself-organizeintoaggregatestoformpatternsasafunctionofthepeptide
sequence.Rationalpeptidedesignallowsustosystematicallyexploretheroleof
hydrophobicity,electrostaticsandmolecularsizeonmaterialsproperties.(2)We
useasetofinterfacialcharacterizationtoolstoexamineinintermolecularassembly
andsupramolecularmechanicsoftheself-assembledstructures.(3)Weapplytwodimensionalequationsofstatethatdefineboththephasebehaviorandthecritical
surfaceconcentrationsofnascentaggregatesattheinterface.Subsequently,wecan
applytheseparameterstopredictthedimensionsofpatternformationandto
determinethepotentialofthepeptideassembliesasbiomimeticmaterials.