Computational design was successfully used to produce new, non-natural peptide molecules that self-assemble into discrete nanoparticles that are 2 nm in diameter and 4 nm in length. The new nanoparticles, examples of the class of protein structure call coiled coils, result in exciting new self-assembly behavior with potential to impact materials technology.
First, the particles, also known as ‘bundlemers’, exhibit only positive electrostatic charges on their surface, unlike natural proteins with a mix of positive and negative charges. This single charge character leads to newly discovered solution behavior. Second, the particles spontaneously and robustly stack end to end to form long chains that, in turn, cause liquid crystal behaviors at low concentrations of building block.
Liquid crystals are well known as required precursor phases for materials technology (e.g., high performance polymers such as Kevlar, membranes for separations, amongst others). The robust, spontaneous, liquid crystal assembly behavior enables research directions towards advanced materials created with environmentally compatible amino acids and enables new molecular machines (e.g., pumps).
