CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Self-assembly is a natural process that spontaneously and reversibly organizes molecular units into ordered structures through non-covalent interactions. Among all biological molecules that can self-assemble, peptides, specifically dipeptides and tripeptides, offer numerous advantages such as chemical variation and biocompatibility therefore they can be used in various biological and non-biological applications. Previous work have defined dipeptide system composed by Phe-Phe as a central motif for the formation of ordered self-assembled tubular, spherical and two-dimensional structures at the nano-scale. Herein, we present the synthesis and supramolecular characterization of new Phe-Phe-Cys derivatives which undergo solvent-mediated assembly. In order to establish a relation between structure and morphology of the aggregates, it has been incorporated different functionalities at the N-terminal. Additionally, the cysteine located at the C-terminal allows the chance to modulate aggregation based on external stimulus, due to cysteine oxidation?reduction capabilities promoted by pH and additives changes.