Sequence sets structure: Amphiphilic norbornene‐based double‐comb diblock polymers with peptide and oligo(ethylene oxide) side chains aggregate in water to form unprecedented complex morphologies depending on the amino acid sequence of the peptide. The internal structures of the aggregates observed by cryo electron tomography show densely folded and highly branched wormlike micelles (left) and spherical aggregates with a bicontinuous architecture (right).
Conventional methods for radiolabelling biomolecules such as proteins and peptides with fluorine-18 for PET imaging rely on carbon-fluorine bond formation and are complex and inefficient. Several non-carbon elements form strong bonds (i.e. with high bond enthalpy) with fluorine, but with lower activation energy for their formation compared to carbon-fluorine bonds, whilst preserving a relatively high kinetic stability. In particular, by incorporating boron-, aluminium- and silicon-containing prosthetic groups into biomolecules, promising results have recently been achieved in the radiolabelling with F-18-fluoride under mild aqueous conditions, affording a level of convenience, efficiency and specific activity potentially superior to those offered by conventional C-F bond formation methods. The promise already shown by these early studies heralds a new branch of bioconjugate radiochemistry involving a wider range of "fluoridephilic" elements for synthesis of PET molecular imaging agents.
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