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Updated: May 26, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Morphology transformation via pH-triggered self-assembly of peptides
Si-Yong Qin1, Sheng-Sheng Xu, Ren-Xi Zhuo
1Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education and Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Abstract:
Three flexible peptides (P1: (C(17)H(35)CO-NH-GRGDG)(2)KG; P2: (Fmoc-GRGDG)(2)KG; P3: (CH(3)CO-NH-GRGDG)(2)KG) self-assembled to form a variety of morphologically distinct assemblies at different pHs. P1 formed nanofibers at pH 3, then self-assembled into nanospheres with pH up to 6 and further changed to lamellar structures when the pH value was further increased to 10. P2 aggregated into an entwined network structure at pH 3, and then self-assembled into well-defined nanospheres, lamellar structures, and vesicles via adjusting the pH value. However, P3 did not self-assemble into well-ordered nanostructures, presumably due to the absence of a large hydrophobic group. The varying self-assembly behaviors of the peptides at different pHs are attributed to molecular conformational changes. These self-assembled supramolecular materials might contribute to the development of new peptide-based biomaterials.
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