Construction of nano-structures by self-assembly of C₃-symmetric peptide conjugates

Rational design of self-assembly of proteins, which plays pivotal roles in biology, is an important subject in biotechnology and also in bottom-up nanotechnology. To mimick formation of spherical viruses and clathrin, we have reported design of a C₃-symmetric peptide conjugate bearing three β-sheet forming peptides (Trigonal-FKFE) and their self-assembly into nanospheres in acidic solutions. Here we report a novel C₃-symmetric peptide conjugate (Wheel-FKFE) which have wheel-like arrangement. The Wheel-FKFE self-assembled into nanofibers with uniform width (3 nm) in neutral aqueous solutions. Furthermore, we developed a simpler trigonal conjugate bearing glutathione as self-assembly units (Trigonal-glutathione). The conjugate self-assembled into nanocapsules with the size of about 300 nm in aqueous solutions.