Enzymatic self-assembly of an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM)

Natsuko Yamagata1, Xiaoyi Chen1, Jie Zhou1

  • 1Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA. bxu@brandeis.edu.

Here we show the first example of an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM), LYYYYL, as well as its enantiomeric or retro-inverso peptide, to self-assemble in water via enzyme-instructed self-assembly. Upon enzymatic dephosphorylation, the phosphohexapeptides become hexapeptides, which self-assemble in water to result in supramolecular hydrogels. This work illustrates a new approach to design bioinspired soft materials from a less explored, but important pool of immunomodulatory peptides.

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