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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Self-assembly of short collagen-related peptides into fibrils via cation-π interactions
Chia-Ching Chen1, Wei Hsu, Tang-Chun Kao
1Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013, ROC.
Abstract:
Introduction of a cationic residue at the N-terminus and an aromatic residue at the C-terminus of a collagen-related peptide can generate favorable cation-π interactions between the termini of collagen triple helices. The experimental results indicate that such cation-π interactions can promote the self-assembly of collagen triple helices into a higher-order structure in a head-to-tail manner. Our current work shows that cation-π interactions can serve as an effective force in preparing collagen-related biomaterials.
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