Three different series of amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides were prepared as variants of previously reportedα-helical,coacervate-forming cationic polypeptides.Studies of the physical behavior of t...Three different series of amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides were prepared as variants of previously reportedα-helical,coacervate-forming cationic polypeptides.Studies of the physical behavior of these polypeptides in aqueous media in the presence of multivalent counterions enabled a better understanding of the molecular requirements for coacervate formation of side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides.Variation in lengths of side-chain amino acid or linker segments in cationicα-helical polypeptides was found either to prohibit coacervate formation or to allow adjustment of the phase transition temperature.A series of charge-reversed,anionic amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides were also prepared and found to beα-helical and able to form coacervates similar to analogous cationic homopolypeptides.These results illustrate the ability to predictably tune coacervation properties via molecular adjustment of side-chains in homopolypeptides and show that amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides can be used as a general platform for development of biomimetic,coacervate-forming polymers.展开更多
文摘Three different series of amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides were prepared as variants of previously reportedα-helical,coacervate-forming cationic polypeptides.Studies of the physical behavior of these polypeptides in aqueous media in the presence of multivalent counterions enabled a better understanding of the molecular requirements for coacervate formation of side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides.Variation in lengths of side-chain amino acid or linker segments in cationicα-helical polypeptides was found either to prohibit coacervate formation or to allow adjustment of the phase transition temperature.A series of charge-reversed,anionic amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides were also prepared and found to beα-helical and able to form coacervates similar to analogous cationic homopolypeptides.These results illustrate the ability to predictably tune coacervation properties via molecular adjustment of side-chains in homopolypeptides and show that amino acid side-chain functionalized homopolypeptides can be used as a general platform for development of biomimetic,coacervate-forming polymers.
