title: Harnessing supramolecular peptide nanotechnology in biomedical applications.
abstract: The harnessing of peptides in biomedical applications is a recent hot topic. This arises mainly from the general biocompatibility of peptides, as well as from the ease of tunability of peptide structure to engineer desired properties. The ease of progression from laboratory testing to clinical trials is evident from the plethora of examples available. In this review, we compare and contrast how three distinct self-assembled peptide nanostructures possess different functions. We have 1) nanofibrils in biomaterials that can interact with cells, 2) nanoparticles that can traverse the bloodstream to deliver its payload and also be bioimaged, and 3) nanotubes that can serve as cross-membrane conduits and as a template for nanowire formation. Through this review, we aim to illustrate how various peptides, in their various self-assembled nanostructures, possess great promise in a wide range of biomedical applications and what more can be expected.
authors.affiliation: Division of Science, Yale-NUS College, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kiat Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Wei Hao
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shuangmu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D020811:Biomedical Technology; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D010446:Peptide Fragments
keywords: nanotechnology; peptides; self-assembly