Advances in Engineering Advances in Engineering features breaking research judged by Advances in Engineering advisory team to be of key importance in the Engineering field. Papers are selected from over 10,000 published each week from most peer reviewed journals.
Small. 2014 Mar 12;10(5):973-9.
Abul-Haija YM, Roy S, Frederix PW, Javid N, Jayawarna V, Ulijn RV.
Pure and Applied Chemistry Department/WestCHEM, University of Strathclyde, 295 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G1 1XL, UK.
Abstract
For the development of applications and novel uses for peptide nanostructures, robust routes for their surface functionalization, that ideally do not interfere with their self-assembly properties, are required. Many existing methods rely on covalent functionalization, where building blocks are appended with functional groups, either pre- or post-assembly. A facile supramolecular approach is demonstrated for the formation of functionalized nanofibers by combining the advantages of biocatalytic self-assembly and surfactant/gelator co-assembly. This is achieved by enzymatically triggered reconfiguration of free flowing micellar aggregates of pre-gelators and functional surfactants to form nanofibers that incorporate and display the surfactants’ functionality at the surface. Furthermore, by varying enzyme concentration, the gel stiffness and supramolecular organization of building blocks can be varied.
© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
