Magnetotactic molecular architectures from self-assembly of β-peptide foldamers.
The design of stimuli-responsive self-assembled molecular systems capable of undergoing mechanical work is one of the most important challenges in synthetic chemistry and materials science. Here we report that foldectures, that is, self-assembled molecular architectures of β-peptide foldamers, uniformly align with respect to an applied static magnetic field, and also show instantaneous orientational motion in a dynamic magnetic field. This response is explained by the amplified anisotropy of the diamagnetic susceptibilities as a result of the well-ordered molecular packing of the foldectures. In addition, the motions of foldectures at the microscale can be translated into magnetotactic behaviour at the macroscopic scale in a way reminiscent to that of magnetosomes in magnetotactic bacteria. This study will provide significant inspiration for designing the next generation of biocompatible peptide-based molecular machines with applications in biological systems.
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Sunbum
S
Kwon
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.|Center for Cell-Encapsulation Research, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Beom Jin
BJ
Kim
Graduate School of Energy Environment Water Sustainability (EEWS), KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Hyung-Kyu
HK
Lim
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.|Center for Cell-Encapsulation Research, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Kyungtae
K
Kang
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Sung Hyun
SH
Yoo
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Jintaek
J
Gong
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Eunyoung
E
Yoon
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.|Center for Cell-Encapsulation Research, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Juno
J
Lee
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.|Center for Cell-Encapsulation Research, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Insung S
IS
Choi
Graduate School of Energy Environment Water Sustainability (EEWS), KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Hyungjun
H
Kim
Molecular-Level Interface Research Center, Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea.
Hee-Seung
HS
Lee
D060526:Magnetic Fields; D055944:Magnetosomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding
D010455:Peptides