Self-assembled peptide–inorganic nanoparticle superstructures: from component design to applications

Abstract

Self-assembled peptide–nanoparticle superstructures, with tuned architectures and/or functionalities, hold great promise in multiple high-end applications.

Peptide‐Engineered Fluorescent Nanomaterials: Structure Design, Function Tailoring, and Biomedical Applications

“…Self‐assembled peptide nanostructures have been revealed to be used for the preparation of various fluorescent nanomaterials, [ 124–126 ] in which the number and the sequence of amino acids are responsible for the self‐assembling behavior of peptides. [ 127,128 ] The flexibility in the structure and nature of peptide offers opportunity to fabricate specific types of nanomaterials with controllable features.…”

Confined space design by nanoparticle self-assembly

“…NP self-assembly refers to the organization of NP building blocks into larger and ordered structures, driven by either direct interparticle specific interactions, or templates, or external stimuli. 24,42,43 46,47 The arrangement of NPs into assembled nanoscale architectures can involve a wide repertoire of different interactions occurring among chosen building blocks. 48 van der Waals forces, electrostatic interactions, biomolecular recognition, protein–protein interactions, metal ligand coordination, and hydrogen bonding (HB) have already been reported as possible non-covalent forces that can take place among nanomaterials and consequently drive the formation of their assemblies and control the spatial distribution of NPs in the final structure ( Table 1 ).…”

The Peptide Functionalized Inorganic Nanoparticles for Cancer-Related Bioanalytical and Biomedical Applications

“…Diagnostic and therapeutic agents play critical roles in the combat against this malignant disease. Because of their unique physicochemical properties such as large specific surface area, easy functionalization, and excellent optical, electrical, and magnetic properties, a variety of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively studied for early detection and treatment of cancers since 1996 [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. For instance, due to their morphology (size, shape, and structure)-dependent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), colloidal gold NPs (AuNPs) have been employed for the development of simple colorimetric sensing systems for sensitive detection of various cancer-related biomarkers and carcinogens [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 29 ].…”

“…Owing to their facile surface chemistry, the accumulation amounts of NPs in tumor site can be further increased through functionalization of NPs with various molecules, which normally enable to specifically recognize the tumor cells and/or tumor neovasculature by ligand-receptor interactions [ 5 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 33 ]. Among of these ligands, peptides with short amino acid sequences have attracted great attention because they have many important physiological functionalities and control nearly all vital functions in humans, including participation in signaling pathways as enzyme substrates, activation of immune defense as antigens, and effect on cellular membrane/organelle membrane functionality as drug carriers or lytic agents [ 10 , 12 , 14 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Especially, several peptides have been approved as drugs and an increasing number of peptides are entering clinical trials [ 35 , 36 ].…”

“…As an interactive nanobiotechnological scaffold, peptide functionalized NPs have thoroughly discussed in several reviews, which are categorized either by their components and/or their applications [ 10 , 12 , 14 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 33 , 34 ]. However, most of these reviews only described functionalization and application of a single type of NPs.…”