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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Synthesis and Characterization of 1,2-Dithiolane Modified Self-Assembling Peptides
Published on: August 20, 2018
Metal-Promoted Higher-Order Assembly of Disulfide-Stapled Helical Barrels
Ashutosh Agrahari1, Mark Lipton1, Jean Chmielewski1
1Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Abstract:
Peptide-based helical barrels are a noteworthy building block for hierarchical assembly, with a hydrophobic cavity that can serve as a host for cargo. In this study, disulfide-stapled helical barrels were synthesized containing ligands for metal ions on the hydrophilic face of each amphiphilic peptide helix. The major product of the disulfide-stapling reaction was found to be composed of five amphiphilic peptides, thereby going from a 16-amino-acid peptide to a stapled 80-residue protein in one step. The structure of this pentamer, 5HB1, was optimized in silico, indicating a significant hydrophobic cavity of ~6 Å within a helical barrel. Metal-ion-promoted assembly of the helical barrel building blocks generated higher order assemblies with a three-dimensional (3D) matrix morphology. The matrix was decorated with hydrophobic dyes and His-tagged proteins both before and after assembly, taking advantage of the hydrophobic pocket within the helical barrels and coordination sites within the metal ion-peptide framework. As such, this peptide-based biomaterial has potential for a number of biotechnology applications, including supplying small molecule and protein growth factors during cell and tissue growth within the matrix.
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