IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms13190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic microfluidic control of supramolecular peptide self-assembly

Author

Listed:
  • Zohar A. Arnon

    (George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University)

  • Andreas Vitalis

    (University of Zurich)

  • Aviad Levin

    (George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University)

  • Thomas C. T. Michaels

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Amedeo Caflisch

    (University of Zurich)

  • Tuomas P. J. Knowles

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Lihi Adler-Abramovich

    (The Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University)

  • Ehud Gazit

    (George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University
    Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University)

Abstract

The dynamic nature of supramolecular polymers has a key role in their organization. Yet, the manipulation of their dimensions and polarity remains a challenge. Here, the minimalistic diphenylalanine building block was applied to demonstrate control of nano-assemblies growth and shrinkage using microfluidics. To fine-tune differential local environments, peptide nanotubes were confined by micron-scale pillars and subjected to monomer flows of various saturation levels to control assembly and disassembly. The small-volume device allows the rapid adjustment of conditions within the system. A simplified kinetic model was applied to calculate parameters of the growth mechanism. Direct real-time microscopy analysis revealed that different peptide derivatives show unidirectional or bidirectional axial dimension variation. Atomistic simulations show that unidirectional growth is dictated by the differences in the axial ends, as observed in the crystalline order of symmetry. This work lays foundations for the rational control of nano-materials dimensions for applications in biomedicine and material science.

Suggested Citation

  • Zohar A. Arnon & Andreas Vitalis & Aviad Levin & Thomas C. T. Michaels & Amedeo Caflisch & Tuomas P. J. Knowles & Lihi Adler-Abramovich & Ehud Gazit, 2016. "Dynamic microfluidic control of supramolecular peptide self-assembly," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13190
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13190
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13190
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms13190?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.