Fabrication of Chiral Materials via Self‐Assembly and Biomineralization of Peptides

Abstract

With different scales of chirality, chiral materials have various particular properties and potential applications in many fields. Peptides are the fundamental building units of biological systems, and a variety of ordered functional nanostructures are produced through self-assembly and biomineralization of peptides in nature. This Personal Account describes chiral silica materials fabricated by using amphiphilic peptides as building blocks. Three particular biomineralization approaches are described based on different kinds of geometry of amphiphilic peptides: the influence of the specific amino acid proline in the peptide sequence, the hydrophilicity of amphiphilic peptides, and different kinds of hydrophobic tails in amphiphilic peptides. These strategies are useful for designing peptides toward the bottom-up synthesis of nanomaterials as well as improving the understanding of the mechanism of peptide self-assembly.

Chirality-Driven Parallel and Antiparallel β-Sheet Secondary Structures of Phe–Ala Lipodipeptides

“…Peptide derivatives have attracted intensive study in recent decades owing to their diverse molecular structures, ease in the modification of the building blocks, and potential application as biomaterials. − By taking advantage of supramolecular noncovalent interactions, peptide derivatives are able to self-assemble to form various nanostructures, − which are of great significance in the design of functional soft materials, − to mimic natural hierarchical nanostructures, and for biological applications. − It has already been demonstrated that the supramolecular nanostructures of peptides are subtly affected by the sequence, , external environmental factors, , and even the pathways taken in the self-assembly process . Chiral packings have been found among the supramolecular systems .…”

Chirality Supramolecular Systems: Helical Assemblies, Structure Designs, and Functions

“…[59] They also proposed physicochemical strategies to control the helical structure of silica under the peptide template-induced process. [65,66] Similar to the peptide-induced technique, the DNA-templated strategy can overcome the inhibition effects of charges between the DNA and silicate, thus ensuring the mineralization process. Che et al [60] reported the first case of impeller-like helical DNA-silica complexes.…”

“…[ 59 ] They also proposed physicochemical strategies to control the helical structure of silica under the peptide template‐induced process. [ 65,66 ]…”