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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Self-Assembly of Gamma-Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids into Complex Nanostructures in Organic Solvent Mixtures
Published on: June 26, 2020
One-Pot Self-Assembly of Peptide-Based Cage-Type Nanostructures Using Orthogonal Ligations
Eline Bartolami1,2, Jérémie Knoops3, Yannick Bessin1
1Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), UMR 5247, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, 8 Rue de l'Ecole Normale, 34296, Montpellier cedex 5, France.
Abstract:
The designed arrangement of biomolecular entities within monodisperse nanostructures is an important challenge toward functional biomaterials. We report herein a method for the formation of water-soluble peptide-based cages using orthogonal ligation reactions-acylhydrazone condensation and thiol-maleimide addition. The results show that using preorganized cyclic peptides and heterobifunctional spacers as building blocks and a set of orthogonal and chemoselective ligation reactions enable cage formation in one pot from six components and through eight reactions. Molecular modelling simulations reveal the structural dynamics of these structures. Finally, we exploited the reactional dynamics of the acylhydrazone by demonstrating the controlled dissociation of the cage through directed component exchange.
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