Split of Chiral Degeneracy in Mechanical and Structural Properties of Oligopeptide–Polysaccharide Biomaterials

Abstract

Enantiomeric biomaterials which are mirror images of each other are characterized by chiral degeneracy—identical structural characteristics and bulk material properties. The addition of another chiral component, D-polysaccharide, has been shown to split such degeneracy and result in two distinct biomaterials. Dynamic oscillatory rheometry and small-angle X-ray scattering demonstrate that the natural biochirality combination of L-peptides and D-polysaccharides assembles faster, has higher elastic moduli (G′), and is structurally more beneficial as opposed to D-peptide and D-polysaccharide combination. Chemical modifications of the OH-groups in α-D-glucose units in D-polysaccharides weaken such splitting of chiral degeneracy. All these findings form a basis to design the approaches to novel biomaterials and provide additional insight on the opposite chirality of proteins and polysaccharides in biological world.