Helical Peptide Nanofibers: Controlled Lengthwise Assembly of Helical Peptide Nanofibers to Modulate CD8⁺ T‐Cell Responses (Adv. Mater. 39/2020)

Abstract

In nanofibers composed of self‐assembling helical peptides, “capping” peptides can limit fiber growth and influence the character of immune responses raised by the materials. In article number 2003310, Joel H. Collier and co‐workers design short peptides such that they self‐assemble into immunologically active helical nanofibers. The lengths of these fibers, tailorable by the incorporation of structure‐modifying peptides within the assemblies, influence the character of the immune responses they elicit. Image Credit: Chelsea Fries and Joel Collier.

Biomaterial engineering strategies for B cell immunity modulations

“…Collier and colleagues also designed another fibrillizing alpha-helical peptide, Coil29 (QARILEADAEILR-AYARILEAHAEILRAQ), that can generate T cell help for antibody responses. [202][203][204][205] The Coil29 nanofiber vaccine showed a self-adjuvanting effect similar to the β-sheet peptide nanofibers mentioned above. 202 This strategy is notable for having an exceptional ability to elicit antibody responses compared with either Q11 nanofibers or other commercial adjuvants.…”

A Mn2+‐Assisted Nanofiber‐Hydrogel Adjuvant for Simultaneous Enhancement of Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses

“…[41] However, there have been few reports indicating that self-assembling peptides themselves can potently induce cellular immune responses. In general, apart from certain peptides with specific sequences, [42] most self-assembling peptides primarily serve as carriers through supramolecular structures, [43] which predominantly trigger the humoral immune responses and face challenges in eliciting cellular immune responses. So far, it's unclear whether the sequence of peptides or other parameters of nanofibers governs the immune response, and it is yet unknown through which PRRs exert their effects.…”

Dynamic responsiveness of self‐assembling peptide‐based nano‐drug systems

“…Peptide self-assembled nanoplatforms based on a "bottom-up" assembly approach have been widely used for precise target and targeted therapy. [64][65][66][67] Various nanostructures of self-assembled peptide materials, such as hydrogels, [68][69][70][71] lipid-like vesicles, 72 and nanofibers, [73][74][75] are ideal candidates for being developed into drug carriers due to their superb packaging ability, safety protection, and precise drug release. Compared to other traditional nano-drug systems, the main advantage of peptide scaffold-based smart nano-drug systems is that they can respond to multi-layered stimuli in vivo, such as microenvironmental stimuli, cellular stimuli (e.g., pH, 76 ionic strength, [77][78][79] receptor-ligand interactions, [80][81][82] specific proteins, 83 or enzymes 84,85 ), and external environmental stimuli (e.g., light, 86 temperature, 87 ultrasound, 88 electric, 89 or magnetic fields 90 ), and can mediate controlled drug release in situ.…”