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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Hierarchical self-assembly of a coiled-coil peptide into fractal structure
Andrea Lomander1, Wonmuk Hwang, Shuguang Zhang
1Center for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA.
Abstract:
Here we report the hierarchical self-assembly of a cross-linkable coiled-coil peptide containing an internal cysteine. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments revealed the fractal structure of the assemblies, and molecular simulations showed that the peptides cross-linked to form clusters of coiled-coils, which further assembled to form globules of tens of nanometers in diameter. Such hierarchical organization was modulated by pH or thiol-reducing agent. Exploitation of the fractal structures through chemical methods may be valuable for the fabrication of materials spanning multiple length scales.
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