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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
On the structural stability of guanosine-based supramolecular hydrogels
Federica Carducci1, Juliana S Yoneda, Rosangela Itri
1Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Molecular Biophysics Group, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy. f.carducci@univpm.it p.mariani@univpm.it.
Abstract:
Supramolecular hydrogels formed from the self-assembly of low molecular weight derivatives are very attractive systems, because of their potential applications in nano- and bio-technology. In this paper, the stable and transparent hydrogels observed in binary mixtures of guanosine derivatives (G), namely guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) and guanosine (Gua), dissolved in water (at volume fractions larger than 0.95), were investigated by microscopy techniques and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS). The results confirm the presence of G-quadruplexes, chiral cylindrical rods obtained by the regular stacking of self-assembled planar cyclic guanosine quartets. However, the addition of Gua determines the formation of very stable hydrogels able to trap large amounts of water (up to a volume fraction of 0.99) and characterised by an unusual anisotropic order. A modified lateral helix-to-helix interaction pattern, tuned by Gua, is suggested to be responsible for the supramolecular gelation and the stability of the hydrogels during swelling.
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