Supramolecular assembly of unstructured peptides into rigid bundlemer polymers

Abstract

Unstructured, designed 15-residue peptide sequences conjugated between their N-termini through thiol–maleimide click chemistry yield coiled-coil, rod-like polymers with widths of 2 nm and lengths exceeding 5 μm. The assembly process enables supramolecular polymer formation and is distinct from previously reported step-growth polymerization of well-structured coiled coils.