title: Nanotube and three-way nanotube formation with nonionic amphiphilic block peptides.
abstract: Amphiphilic block polypeptides having a helical hydrophobic block with a uniform chain length and a hydrophilic nonionic block were newly synthesized and self-assembled into homogeneous nanotubes with ca. 60 nm diameter and ca. 200 nm length. The tubular assembly was shown to be elongated by heating over micrometer length without changing the diameter. Notably, a distinctive three-way nanotube was obtained just by mixing two kinds of amphiphilic polypeptides with the same helical hydrophobic block but different chain lengths of the hydrophilic block. The morphology of the molecular assemblies was shown to be tunable from a curved sheet-shaped assembly to a long or short nanotubular assembly and a three-way nanotubular assembly by suitable molecular design of the hydrophobic block, selection of the chain length of the hydrophilic block, mixing two-type block peptides, and processing such as heating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Material Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto-Daigaku-Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanzaki
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horikawa
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Shunsaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimura
mesh_terms: D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides