Structure

Melanins are a family of heterogeneous polymeric pigments that provide ultraviolet (UV) light protection, structural support, coloration, and free radical scavenging. Formed by oxidative oligomerization of catecholic small molecules, the physical properties of melanins are influenced by covalent and noncovalent disorder. We report the use of tyrosine-containing tripeptides as tunable precursors for polymeric pigments. In […]

We report on the biocatalytic activation of a self-assembling (unprotected) tripeptide to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions on-demand. This is achieved by the conversion of a phosphorylated precursor into a hydrogelator using alkaline phosphatase (AP) as the trigger. The rate of conversion, controlled by the amount of enzyme used, is shown to play a key role in […]

Despite progress, a fundamental understanding of the relationships between the molecular structure and self-assembly configuration of Fmoc-dipeptides is still in its infancy. In this work, we provide a combined experimental and computational approach that makes use of free energy equilibration of a number of related Fmoc-dipeptides to arrive at an atomistic model of Fmoc-threonine-phenylalanine-amide (Fmoc-TF-NH2) […]

Low molecular weight gelators are able to form nanostructures, typically fibers, which entangle to form gel-phase materials. These materials have wide-ranging applications in biomedicine and nanotechnology. While it is known that supramolecular gels often represent metastable structures due to the restricted molecular dynamics in the gel state, the thermodynamic nature of the nanofibrous structure is […]