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Hierarchically oriented organization in supramolecular peptide crystals

Nature Reviews Chemistry volume 3, pages 567–588 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hierarchical self-assembly and crystallization with long-range ordered spatial arrangement is ubiquitous in nature and plays an essential role in the regulation of structures and biological functions. Inspired by the multiscale hierarchical structures in biology, tremendous efforts have been devoted to the understanding of hierarchical self-assembly and crystallization of biomolecules such as peptides and amino acids. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying the construction and organization of multiscale architectures is crucial for the design and fabrication of complex functional systems with long-range alignment of molecules. This Review summarizes the typical examples for hierarchically oriented organization of peptide self-assembly and discusses the thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms that are responsible for this specific hierarchical organization. Most importantly, we propose the concept of hierarchically oriented organization for self-assembling peptide crystals, distinct from the traditional growth mechanism of supramolecular polymerization and crystallization based on the Ostwald ripening rule. Finally, we assess critical challenges and highlight future directions towards the mechanistic understanding and versatile application of the hierarchically oriented organization mechanism.

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Fig. 1: Classical and hierarchically oriented organization self-assembly mechanism.
Fig. 2: Hierarchically oriented crystallization of linear short peptides.
Fig. 3: External stimuli-induced oriented alignment of short peptide self-assembly.
Fig. 4: Hierarchically oriented crystallization of cyclic peptides.
Fig. 5: Hierarchical self-assembly and crystallization of amphiphilic peptides.
Fig. 6: Hierarchically oriented polypeptide self-assembly.
Fig. 7: Hierarchically oriented organization in peptide-containing co-assembly systems.
Fig. 8: Hierarchically oriented organization in extended self-assembly systems.
Fig. 9: Intermolecular interactions involved in multiscale hierarchical self-assembly of peptides.
Fig. 10: The isotropic–nematic phase transition is entropically driven.

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Change history

  • 23 October 2019

    This article has been corrected to change an image credit given for Figure 2b. The credit line of Fig. 2b now reads “Part b is adapted with permission from ref.7, Wiley-VCH.”

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (project nos 21522307, 21802143 and 21802144), the National Natural Science Fund BRICS STI Framework Programme (no. 51861145304) and Innovation Research Community Science Fund (no. 21821005), and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, grant no. QYZDB-SSW-JSC034) as well as the European Research Council under the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (BISON no. 694426). The authors thank Sigal Rencus-Lazar for language editing assistance.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Chengqian Yuan, Wei Ji.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chengqian Yuan, Ruirui Xing & Xuehai Yan

  2. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Wei Ji & Ehud Gazit

  3. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), CAS Key Lab of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Junbai Li

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Junbai Li & Xuehai Yan

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ehud Gazit

  6. Center for Mesoscience, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xuehai Yan

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C.Y. and W. J. contributed equally to this work. X.Y., J.L. and E.G. conceived the Review. All authors contributed to the discussion and writing of the Review.

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Glossary

Paracrystals

A kind of solid-phase state exhibiting short-range and medium-range ordering in the lattice (similar to liquid crystal phases) but lacking long-range ordering in at least one direction.

Ferrofluid

A kind of liquid that becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field.

Solvothermal treatment

An approach for preparing crystalline materials with micro/nanostructures such as metals, polymers and semiconductors from a non-aqueous solution in an autoclave (a thick-walled steel vessel) at high temperature and pressure.

Optical waveguiding

A physical property possessed by a perfect and smooth physical structure that can guide electromagnetic waves in the optical spectrum.

Nematic liquid crystal

A kind of thermotropic liquid crystal in which the molecules are in a definite order or pattern.

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Yuan, C., Ji, W., Xing, R. et al. Hierarchically oriented organization in supramolecular peptide crystals. Nat Rev Chem 3, 567–588 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-019-0129-8

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