Authors:

Wyatt Tristan Carter

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About Paper:

Peptide biomaterials are an emerging technology that has applications in regenerative medicine. Peptides self-assemble into various structures at the microscale and nanoscale level, including spheres, tubes, and disks. In one example, the trimeric coiled-coil peptide TriNL undergoes hierarchical assembly to form nanotubes with an extensive interior cavity. This cavity incorporates fluorescein labeled anionic dextrans via ionic interactions with the growing nanotubes. Due to the level of cationic amino acids within the TriNL sequence, only negatively charged cargo has been incorporated within the nanotube to date. The aim of this research is to modify the sequence of TriNL to replace specific amino acids to improve the scope of encapsulated cargo. In this work, a modified TriNL peptide was designed called TriNL-K28Q. The modified peptide has replaced positively charged lysine (K) with neutral glutamine (Q) at the 28th position; this modification is to reduce the overall charge of the nanotubes. The peptide was prepared using solid phase peptide synthesis, purified using high pressure liquid chromatography and characterized using MALDI-TOF MS. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the modified peptide structure. TriNL-K28Q was observed assembling into structures about 20 µm long. TriNL-K28Q was tested with anionic, neutral, and cationic dextran and was found to encapsulate anionic and cationic dextran using confocal microscopy. Further testing will be done on determining the charge of TriNLK28Q and quantifying how much dextran is encapsulated in the nanotubes. The development of peptide nanotubes capable of carrying therapeutic biopolymers may have many applications in drug delivery and storage. Keywords: Peptide; Biomaterials; Nanotubes

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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Co-authors:

Wyatt Tristan Carter