Self-assembly of peptide nanocapsules by a solvent concentration gradient

Self-assembly of peptide nanocapsules by a solvent concentration gradient

Biological systems can create materials with intricate structures and specialized functions. In comparison, precise control of structures in human-made materials has been challenging. Here we report on insect cuticle peptides that spontaneously form nanocapsules through a single-step solvent exchang...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Haopeng, Qian, Xuliang, Mohanram, Harini, Han, Xiao, Qi, Huitang, Zou, Guijin, Yuan, Fenghou, Miserez, Ali, Liu, Tian, Yang, Qing, Gao, Huajian, Yu, Jing
Other Authors: School of Materials Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Engineering
Acetone
Targeted drug delivery
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179274
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Biological systems can create materials with intricate structures and specialized functions. In comparison, precise control of structures in human-made materials has been challenging. Here we report on insect cuticle peptides that spontaneously form nanocapsules through a single-step solvent exchange process, where the concentration gradient resulting from the mixing of water and acetone drives the localization and self-assembly of the peptides into hollow nanocapsules. The underlying driving force is found to be the intrinsic affinity of the peptides for a particular solvent concentration, while the diffusion of water and acetone creates a gradient interface that triggers peptide localization and self-assembly. This gradient-mediated self-assembly offers a transformative pathway towards simple generation of drug delivery systems based on peptide nanocapsules.

Similar Items