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Haque Pial T, Li Y, Olvera de la Cruz M. Microscopically segregated ligand distribution in co-assembled peptide-amphiphile nanofibers. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:4640-4647. [PMID: 38819791 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00315b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) self-assemble into cylindrical nanofibers with applications in protein purification, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. For these applications, functionalized PAs are often co-assembled with oppositely charged filler PAs. Finding the conditions at which these fibers are homogeneously mixed or segregated is crucial for the required application. We co-assemble negative C12VVEE fillers and positive C12VVKK-OEG4-Z33 ligands, which are important for antibody purifications. Our results show that the ligands tend to cluster and locally segregate in the fiber surfaces. The Z33s are overall neutral and form large aggregates in bulk solution due to short range attractions. However, full segregation of the C12VVKK-OEG4-Z33 is not observed in the cylindrical surface due to the electrostatic penalty of forming large domains of similarly charged molecules. This is commensurate with previous theoretical predictions, showing that the competition between short-range attractive interactions and long-range electrostatic repulsions leads to pattern formation in cylindrical surfaces. This work offers valuable insight into the design of functionalized nanofibers for various biomedical and chemical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Turash Haque Pial
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
- Center of Computation and Theory of Soft Materials, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Yang Li
- Center of Computation and Theory of Soft Materials, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Monica Olvera de la Cruz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
- Center of Computation and Theory of Soft Materials, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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