Self-Assembly of Short Elastin-like Amphiphilic Peptides: Effects of Temperature, Molecular Hydrophobicity and Charge Distribution

A novel type of self-assembling peptides has been developed by introducing the basic elastomeric β-turn units of elastin protein into the amphiphilic peptide molecules. The self-assembly behaviors of such peptides are affected by the overall molecular hydrophobicity, charge distribution and temperature. The molecules with higher hydrophobicity exhibit better self-assembling capability to form long fibrillar nanostructures. For some peptides, the temperature increase can not only promote the self-assembly process but also change the self-assembly routes. The self-assembly of the peptides with two charges centralized on one terminal show higher dependence on temperature than the peptides with two charges distributed separately on the two terminals. The study probes into the self-assembly behaviors of short elastin-like peptides and is of great help for developing novel self-assembling peptides with thermo sensitivity.