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Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Metal-Ion-Mediated Supramolecular Assembly of C3 -Peptides
Jun Wang1,2, Feng Shao1, Wen Li1
1Department of Polymer Materials, Shanghai University, Nanchen Street 333, Shanghai, 200444, P.R. China.
Abstract:
An investigation on a supramolecular assembly of C3 -molecules benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamides carrying tetrapeptide Gly-Ala-Gly-Ala pendants promoted by hydrogen bonding and metal ion coordination is described. A Gly-Ala peptide sequence was selected as it is the most abundant repeating unit in silkworm silk, and known to form β-sheets through efficient intermolecular hydrogen bonds. These C3 -peptides formed long helical fibers in solvents mainly owing to strong hydrogen bonding. However, in the presence of divalent metal ions, chirality of these helical fibers was enhanced through metal coordination and could be transformed into nanospheres with an excess amount of the ions. Different metal ions show different tendencies to mediate the supramolecular chirality, which can even be inverted according to coordination differences.
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