Synthesis of poly-α/β-peptides with tunable sequence via the copolymerization on N-carboxyanhydride and N-thiocarboxyanhydride
Min Zhou,
Jingcheng Zou,
Longqiang Liu,
Ximian Xiao,
Shuai Deng,
Yueming Wu,
Jiayang Xie,
Zihao Cong,
Zhemin Ji,
Runhui Liu
Affiliations
Min Zhou
State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Jingcheng Zou
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Longqiang Liu
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Ximian Xiao
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Shuai Deng
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Yueming Wu
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Jiayang Xie
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Zihao Cong
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Zhemin Ji
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
Runhui Liu
State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China; Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Research Center for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China; Corresponding author
Summary: The fascinating functions of proteins and peptides in biological systems have attracted intense interest to explore their mimics using polymers, including polypeptides synthesized from polymerization. The folding, structures and functions of proteins and polypeptides are largely dependent on their sequence. However, sequence-tunable polymerization for polypeptide synthesis is a long-lasting challenge. The application of polypeptides is also greatly hindered by their susceptibility to enzymatic degradation. Although poly-α/β-peptide has proven to be an effective strategy to address the stability issue, the synthesis of poly-α/β-peptide from polymerization is not available yet. Hereby, we demonstrate a living and controlled copolymerization on α-NCA and β-NTA to prepare sequence-tunable poly-α/β-peptides. This polymerization strategy shows a prominent solvent-driven characteristic, providing random-like copolymers of poly-α/β-peptides in THF and block-like copolymers of poly-α/β-peptides in a mixed solvent of CHCl3/H2O (95/5, v/v), and opens new avenues for sequence-tunable polymerization and enables facile synthesis of proteolysis tunable poly-α/β-peptides for diverse applications.
