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Hydrogel and Organogel Formation by Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Cyclic Peptides Nanotubes

Shaikh, Huda; Rho, Julia Y.; Macdougall, Laura J.; Gurnani, Pratik; Lunn, Andrew M.; Yang, Jie; Huband, Steve; Mansfield, Edward D. H.; Peltier, Raoul; Perrier, Sebastien

By 12 March 2019No Comments

Chemistry – A European Journal, 2018, vol 24, 71, pp. 19066-19074

DOI:10.1002/chem.201804576

Abstract

Breaking away from the linear structure of previously reported peptide-based gelators, this study reports the first example of gel formation based on the use of cyclic peptides made of alternating d- and l-amino acids, known to self-assemble in solution to form long nanotubes. Herein, a library of cyclic peptides was systemically studied for their gelation properties in various solvents, uncovering key parameters driving both organogel and hydrogel formation. The hierarchical nature of the self-assembly process in water was characterised by a combination of electron microscopy imaging and small-angle X-ray scattering, revealing a porous network of entangled nanofibres composed by the aggregation of several cyclic peptide nanotubes. Rheology measurements then confirmed the formation of soft hydrogels.

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