Hierarchical Analysis of Self-Assembled PEGylated Hexaphenylalanine Photoluminescent Nanostructures
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- 作者：Dr. Carlo Diaferia ; Dr. Teresa Sibillano ; Dr. Nicole Balasco ; Dr. Cinzia Giannini ; Dr. Valentina Roviello ; Dr. Luigi Vitagliano ; Prof. Giancarlo Morelli and Dr. Antonella Accardo
- 刊名：Chemistry - A European Journal
- 出版年：2016
- 出版时间：November 7, 2016
- 年：2016
- 卷：22
- 期：46
- 页码：16586-16597
- 全文大小：4387K
- ISSN：1521-3765
文摘
Despite the growing literature about diphenylalanine-based peptide materials, it still remains a challenge to delineate the theoretical insight into peptide nanostructure formation and the structural features that could permit materials with enhanced properties to be engineered. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel peptide building block composed of six phenylalanine residues and eight PEG units, PEG8-F6. This aromatic peptide self-assembles in water in stable and well-ordered nanostructures with optoelectronic properties. A variety of techniques, such as fluorescence, FTIR, CD, DLS, SEM, SAXS, and WAXS allowed us to correlate the photoluminescence properties of the self-assembled nanostructures with the structural organization of the peptide building block at the micro- and nanoscale. Finally, a model of hexaphenylalanine in aqueous solution by molecular dynamics simulations is presented to suggest structural and energetic factors controlling the formation of nanostructures.