Self-organization of a chiral D-EAK16 designer peptide into a 3D nanofiber scaffold.
Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds are an excellent material for applications such as tissue repair, tissue regeneration, instant stopping of bleeding, and slow drug release. We report a new self-assembling peptide D-EAK16 consisting purely of D-amino acids. D-EAK16 and L-EAK16 display mirror-image CD spectra at 20 degrees C. Like L-EAK16, D-EAK16 self-assembles into nanofibers, thus demonstrating that chiral self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds can be made from both L- and D-amino acids. We also show that D-peptide nanofibers are resistant to natural proteases and may thus be useful in biotechnology, nanobiotechnology, tissue repair and tissue regeneration as well as other medical applications.
West China Hospital, Laboratory for Nanobiomedical Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, China.
Zhongli
Z
Luo
Xiaojun
X
Zhao
Shuguang
S
Zhang
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry*
D000596:Amino Acids; D009842:Oligopeptides