Coordination-driven folding and assembly of a short peptide into a protein-like two-nanometer-sized channel

Short peptide helices have attracted attention as suitable building blocks for soft functional materials, but they are rarely seen in crystalline materials. A new artificial nanoassembly of short peptide helices in the crystalline state is presented in which peptide helices are arranged three-dimensionally by metal coordination. The folding and assembly processes of a short peptide ligand containing the Gly-Pro-Pro sequence were induced by silver(I) coordination in aqueous alcohol, and gave rise to a single crystal composed of polyproline II helices. Crystallographic studies revealed that this material possesses two types of unique helical nanochannel; the larger channel measures more than 2 nm in diameter. Guest uptake properties were investigated by soaking the crystals in polar solutions of guest molecules; anions, organic chiral molecules, and bio-oligomers are effectively encapsulated by this peptide-folded porous crystal, with moderate to high chiral recognition for chiral molecules.