Diphenylalanine

About: Diphenylalanine is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 426 publications have been published within this topic receiving 17372 citations.

Casting Metal Nanowires Within Discrete Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes

Abstract: Tubular nanostructures are suggested to have a wide range of applications in nanotechnology. We report our observation of the self-assembly of a very short peptide, the Alzheimer9s β-amyloid diphenylalanine structural motif, into discrete and stiff nanotubes. Reduction of ionic silver within the nanotubes, followed by enzymatic degradation of the peptide backbone, resulted in the production of discrete nanowires with a long persistence length. The same dipeptide building block, made of D-phenylalanine, resulted in the production of enzymatically stable nanotubes.

Self-assembly and application of diphenylalanine-based nanostructures

Abstract: Micro- and nanostructures fabricated from biological building blocks have attracted tremendous attention owing to their potential for application in biology and in nanotechnology. Many biomolecules, including peptides and proteins, can interact and self-assemble into highly ordered supramolecular architectures with functionality. By imitating the processes where biological peptides or proteins are assembled in nature, one can delicately design and synthesize various peptide building blocks composed of several to dozens of amino acids for the creation of biomimetic or bioinspired nanostructured materials. This tutorial review aims to introduce a new kind of peptide building block, the diphenylalanine motif, extracted with inspiration of a pathogenic process towards molecular self-assembly. We highlight recent and current advances in fabrication and application of diphenylalanine-based peptide nanomaterials. We also highlight the preparation of such peptide-based nanostructures as nanotubes, spherical vesicles, nanofibrils, nanowires and hybrids through self-assembly, the improvement of their properties and the extension of their applications.

Fmoc-diphenylalanine self assembles to a hydrogel via a novel architecture based on π–π interlocked β-sheets

Abstract: The self assembly of peptide hydrogelators that carry aromatic substituents can be modeled by a novel nanocylindrical architecture. The proposed model suggests that the nanocylinders are formed by anti-parallel β-sheets interlocked by the π-stacking interactions of fluorenyl groups and phenyl rings. This explanation is consistent with the structures observed in TEM and the data obtained by a variety of spectroscopic techniques.

Formation of Closed-Cage Nanostructures by Self-Assembly of Aromatic Dipeptides

Abstract: We recently demonstrated that the diphenylalanine recognition motif of the Alzheimer's β-amyloid polypeptide self-assembles into ordered and discrete nanotubes. Here, we reveal that diphenylglycine, a highly similar analogue and the simplest aromatic peptide, forms spherical nanometric assemblies. As the nanotubes, the nanospheres assemble efficiently and have remarkable stability. The introduction of a thiol group into the diphenylalanine peptide alters its assembly from tubular to spherical particles similar to those formed by diphenylglycine. The formation of either nanotubes or closed-cages by fundamentally similar peptides is consistent with a two-dimensional layer closure, as described both for carbon and inorganic nanotubes and their corresponding buckminsterfullerene and fullerene-like structures.