Tracking morphologies at the nanoscale: self-assembly of an amphiphilic designer peptide into a double helix superstructure.

ABSTRACT: Hierarchical self-assembly is a fundamental principle in nature, which gives rise to astonishing supramolecular architectures that offer an inspiration for the development of innovative materials in nanotechnology. Here we present the unique structure of a cone-shaped amphiphilic designer peptide. When tracking its concentration-dependent morphologies, we observed elongated bilayered single tapes at the beginning of the assembly process, which further developed into novel double-helix-like superstructures at increased concentrations. This architecture is characterized by a tight intertwisting of two individual helices, resulting in a periodic pitch size over their total lengths of several hundred nanometers. Solution X-ray scattering data revealed a marked 2-layered internal organization.

SUBMITTER: Kornmueller K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4538866 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature