Peptide based nanostructures - Interfacial self-assembly, nanostructure and morphological diversity
Hans-Georg Braun
Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials and Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden

May 24, 2012, 1 p.m.


Short oligopeptide molecules of appropriate amnoacide composition turn out to be excellent building blocks of "Supramolecular Polymers". In contrast to "real polymers" which since the early days of Staudinger are regarded as long molecules made from "covalent bound" small monomer units supramolecular polymers are regarded as macromolecular units assembled from small monomer units and stabilized by strong forces from non-covalent molecular interactions namely hydrogene bonds or pi-pi stacking. Reversibility of the non-covalent bonding interactions as compared with the irreversibility of covalent bonded polymer favors an enormous variabilty of morphological structural elements. Ongoing an intensifying reserach in particular on diphenylalanine based oligopeptide assemblies from Israelian (Gazit), Korean (Ryu and Park) and British (Ulijn) researchers present a growing number of interesting physical and materials properties of these compounds which indicates them as "high potentials" in nanoscopic and mesoscopic building blocks: The lecture focuses on recent results on self-assembly of oligopeptide buiding blocks at liquid/gas interfaces, new structural insights into the crystallographic features of the systems. Nevertheless it will also address a number of unresolved problems to be solved. The open problems mainly refer to
- characterization of intermediate species during the self-assembly process
-nanostructural characterization
- deeper understanding of the self-assemby in order to predict and guide the outcome of the assembly process



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Peptide based nanostructures - Interfacial self-assembly, nanostructure and morphological diversity
Hans-Georg Braun
Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials and Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden

May 24, 2012, 1 p.m.


Short oligopeptide molecules of appropriate amnoacide composition turn out to be excellent building blocks of "Supramolecular Polymers". In contrast to "real polymers" which since the early days of Staudinger are regarded as long molecules made from "covalent bound" small monomer units supramolecular polymers are regarded as macromolecular units assembled from small monomer units and stabilized by strong forces from non-covalent molecular interactions namely hydrogene bonds or pi-pi stacking. Reversibility of the non-covalent bonding interactions as compared with the irreversibility of covalent bonded polymer favors an enormous variabilty of morphological structural elements. Ongoing an intensifying reserach in particular on diphenylalanine based oligopeptide assemblies from Israelian (Gazit), Korean (Ryu and Park) and British (Ulijn) researchers present a growing number of interesting physical and materials properties of these compounds which indicates them as "high potentials" in nanoscopic and mesoscopic building blocks: The lecture focuses on recent results on self-assembly of oligopeptide buiding blocks at liquid/gas interfaces, new structural insights into the crystallographic features of the systems. Nevertheless it will also address a number of unresolved problems to be solved. The open problems mainly refer to
- characterization of intermediate species during the self-assembly process
-nanostructural characterization
- deeper understanding of the self-assemby in order to predict and guide the outcome of the assembly process



Share