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Amino Acid Based Self‐assembled Nanostructures: Complex Structures from Remarkably Simple Building Blocks
Author(s) -
Chakraborty Priyadarshi,
Gazit Ehud
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemnanomat
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.947
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2199-692X
DOI - 10.1002/cnma.201800147
Subject(s) - nanostructure , nanotechnology , amino acid , supramolecular chemistry , self assembly , peptide , materials science , self healing hydrogels , chemistry , molecule , biochemistry , organic chemistry , polymer chemistry
Amino acids are the simplest biological building blocks capable of forming discreet nanostructures by supramolecular self‐assembly. The understanding of the process of organization of amino acid nanostructures is of fundamental importance for the study of metabolic diseases as well as for materials science applications. Although peptide self‐assembled structures have been the topic of many review articles, much less attention has been devoted to the ability of amino acid building blocks, both natural and synthetic, to form ordered assemblies with defined architectures and notable physical properties, by the process of self‐association. Herein, we try to shed light on amino acid based nanostructures, their fabrication and implications. We discuss self‐assembled nanostructures, including hydrogels with nano‐scale order, obtained from both modified and unmodified single amino acids. We also envision some future prospects in this emerging field.