Tuning the amino acid sequence of minimalist peptides to present biological signals via charge neutralised self assembly

Abstract

Nanofibrous materials yielded by the self-assembly of peptides are rich in potential; particularly for the formation of scaffolds that mimic the landscape of the host environment of the cell. Here, we report a novel methodology to direct the formation of supramolecular structures presenting desirable amino acid sequences by the self-assembly of minimalist peptides which cannot otherwise yield the desired scaffold structures under biologically relevant conditions. Through the rational modification of the pK_a, we were able to optimise ordered charge neutralised assembly towards in vivo conditions.