Peptide cages: bioinspired supramolecular architectures for next-generation applications

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Natural supramolecular architectures inspire synthetic designs.
• Peptides offer tunable chirality, predictability, and biocompatibility.
• Peptide-based supramolecular cages are emerging functional materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the design and synthesis of peptide-based supramolecular cages.
• To highlight the versatility and functional diversity of these structures.
• To discuss strategies for creating peptide supramolecular cages.

Main Methods:

• Examination of two primary design strategies: peptide-framework cages and hybrid systems.
• Analysis of intrinsic peptide conformations and external interactions (e.g., metal coordination) for framework dictation.
• Integration of peptides with rigid scaffolds in hybrid systems.

Main Results:

• Peptide cages provide precise control over geometry, cavity characteristics, and dynamics.
• Two main strategies enable versatile construction of supramolecular cages.
• Incorporation of peptides leads to enhanced functional diversity.

Conclusions:

• Peptide-based supramolecular cages are a powerful platform for next-generation materials.
• These cages facilitate applications in biosensing, drug delivery, separation, and remediation.
• Bridging natural assembly and synthetic chemistry advances peptide cage development.