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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Enhanced Piezoresponse And Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Fluorinated Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes, Soma Khanra, Sandra V. Vassiliades, Wendel A. Alves, Kaidi Yang, Rainer Glaser, Kartik Ghosh, Payal Bhattacharya, Ping Yu, Suchismita Guha Nov 2019

Enhanced Piezoresponse And Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Fluorinated Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes, Soma Khanra, Sandra V. Vassiliades, Wendel A. Alves, Kaidi Yang, Rainer Glaser, Kartik Ghosh, Payal Bhattacharya, Ping Yu, Suchismita Guha

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Self-assembled L,L-diphenylalanine (FF) nanostructures offer an attractive platform for photonics and nonlinear optics. The nonlinear optical (NLO) coefficients of FF nanotubes depend on the diameter of the tube [S. Khanra et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 19(4), 3084-3093 (2017)]. To further enhance the NLO properties of FF, we search for structural modifications. Here, we report on the synthesis of fluorinated FF dipeptides by replacing one ortho-hydrogen atom in each of the phenyl groups of FF by a fluorine atom. Density-functional theoretical calculations yield insights into minimum energy conformers of fluorinated FF (Fl-FF). Fl-FF self-assembles akin to FF into micron-length tubes. …


Minimalistic Peptide-Based Supramolecular Systems Relevant To The Chemical Origin Of Life, Daniela Kroiss Sep 2019

Minimalistic Peptide-Based Supramolecular Systems Relevant To The Chemical Origin Of Life, Daniela Kroiss

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

All forms of life are based on biopolymers, which are made up of a selection of simple building blocks, such as amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids and sugars. Their individual properties govern their interactions, giving rise to complex supramolecular structures with highly specialized functionality, including ligand recognition, catalysis and compartmentalization. In this thesis, we aim to answer the question whether short peptides could have acted as precursors of modern proteins during prebiotic evolution. Using a combination of experimental and computational techniques, we screened a large molecular search space for peptide sequences that are capable of forming supramolecular complexes with adenosine …


Incorporation Of Fluorine Into Peptides And One-Bead One-Compound Libraries Through Copper-Free Click Chemistry For The Discovery Of Radiopharmaceuticals, Emily M. Murrell Aug 2019

Incorporation Of Fluorine Into Peptides And One-Bead One-Compound Libraries Through Copper-Free Click Chemistry For The Discovery Of Radiopharmaceuticals, Emily M. Murrell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Molecular imaging is making possible the understanding of intricate biological processes in real-time in both healthy and diseased tissues. The ability to non-invasively locate biomarkers of disease with good sensitivity and specificity affords the ability to provide accurate and early diagnoses, and patient stratification for therapy. The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is one biomarker of interest, as it is overexpressed in many cancers, yet has low expression elsewhere in normal physiology. This thesis will document a method of combinatorial chemistry to construct libraries of new potential peptide-based imaging agents for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. It will also incorporate the study …


Beyond Cell Penetrating Peptides: Designed Molecular Transporters, P. A. Wender, Christina B. Cooley, E. I. Geihe Jun 2019

Beyond Cell Penetrating Peptides: Designed Molecular Transporters, P. A. Wender, Christina B. Cooley, E. I. Geihe

Christina B Cooley

Inspired originally by peptides that traverse biological barriers, research on molecular transporters has since identified the key structural requirements that govern cellular entry, leading to new, significantly more effective and more readily available agents. These new drug delivery systems enable or enhance cellular and tissue uptake, can be targeted and provide numerous additional advantages of significance in imaging, diagnostics and therapy.


Peptide Mediated Co-Assembly Of Porphyrin: Towards Sustainable Biomaterials For Light Harvesting And Catalysis, Wsm Nadeesha K. Wijerathne May 2019

Peptide Mediated Co-Assembly Of Porphyrin: Towards Sustainable Biomaterials For Light Harvesting And Catalysis, Wsm Nadeesha K. Wijerathne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The diverse molecular functions of naturally occurring biomaterials designed from proteins are fundamentally based on a set of conserved building blocks, namely the 20 gene coded amino acids. The supramolecular structures and functions of proteins dictates by the self-assembly, where the complexity of proteins arise from a large number of amino acids. Generation of biomimetic systems that resemble the structures and functions of proteins is of great interest yet challenging due to the tremendous complexity of the natural systems. It is important to investigate alternative strategies to design much simpler systems that exhibit the same or similar function as proteins. …


Large Fatty Acid-Derived Aβ42 Oligomers Form Ring-Like Assemblies, Wenhui Xu, Dexter N. Dean, Kelli A. Stockmal, Sarah E. Morgan, Ulrich H.E. Hansmann, Vijayaraghavan Rangachari Feb 2019

Large Fatty Acid-Derived Aβ42 Oligomers Form Ring-Like Assemblies, Wenhui Xu, Dexter N. Dean, Kelli A. Stockmal, Sarah E. Morgan, Ulrich H.E. Hansmann, Vijayaraghavan Rangachari

Faculty Publications

As the primary toxic species in the etiology of Alzheimer disease (AD) are low molecular weight oligomers of Aβ, it is crucial to understand the structure of Aβ oligomers for gaining molecular insights into AD pathology. We have earlier demonstrated that in the presence of fatty acids, Aβ42 peptides assemble as 12-24mer oligomers. These Large Fatty Acid-derived Oligomers (LFAOs) exist predominantly as 12mers at low and as 24mers at high concentrations. The 12mers are more neurotoxic than the 24mers and undergo self-replication, while the latter propagate to morphologically distinct fibrils with succinct pathological consequences. In order to glean into their …


Bisthioether Stapled Peptides Targeting Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Gene Repression, Gan Zhang Feb 2019

Bisthioether Stapled Peptides Targeting Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 Gene Repression, Gan Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interactions between proteins play a key role in nearly all cellular process, and therefore, disruption of such interactions may lead to many different types of cellular dysfunctions. Hence, pathologic protein-protein interactions (PPIs) constitute highly attractive drug targets and hold great potential for developing novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of incurable human diseases. Unfortunately, the identification of PPI inhibitors is an extremely challenging task, since traditionally used small molecule ligands are mostly unable to cover and anchor on the extensive flat surfaces that define those binary protein complexes. In contrast, large biomolecules such as proteins or peptides are ideal fits …