Paper Citing NAMD - Abstract
Hughes, Meghan; Frederix, Pim W. J. M.; Raeburn, Jaclyn; Birchall, Louise S.; Sadownik, Jan; Coomer, Fiona C.; Lin, I-Hsin; Cussen, Edmund J.; Hunt, Neil T.; Tuttle, Tell; Webb, Simon J.; Adams, Dave J.; Ulijn, Rein V.
Sequence/structure relationships in aromatic dipeptide hydrogels formed under thermodynamic control by enzyme-assisted self-assembly
SOFT MATTER, 8:5595-5602, 2012
Self-assembled supramolecular structures of peptide derivatives often reflect a kinetically trapped state rather than the thermodynamically most favoured structure, which presents a challenge when trying to elucidate the molecular design rules for these systems. In this article we use thermodynamically controlled self-assembly, driven by enzymatic condensation of amino acid derivatives, to elucidate chemical composition/nanostructure relationships for four closely related Fmoc-dipeptide-methyl esters which form hydrogels; SF, SL, TF and TL. We demonstrate that each of the four systems self-assemble to form extended arrays of beta-sheets which interlock via pi-stacking of Fmoc-moieties, yet with subtle differences in molecular organisation as supported by rheology, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and molecular mechanics minimisation.
