Let’s pause for a moment on the following human inventions: velcro, airplanes, sonar, or the autogyro. What do you think they have in common? Well, each of these wonders were inspired by nature. Velcro is nothing more than a copy of burdock seeds. On a walk through the Alps, the Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral saw how these seeds stuck to the fur of his dog Milka, but also to his own socks and coat. That was in 1941 and again years later he patented the idea to commercialize it quickly. The term velcro is an acronym for the French words velorous (velvet) and croché (hook). An invention copied from nature that has reached the Moon: it was used in the Apollo missions, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin themselves wore suits and for sample collections they used velcro bags. On the other hand, birds promoted the development of airplanes, two bats gave clues for echolocation and Juan de la Cierva was inspired by the sycamore seed to invent and perfect his wonderful autogyro.
Chen, along with two other authors, published a paper in August titled Hierarchical Nanomaterials Assembled from Peptoids and Other Sequence-Defined Synthetic Polymers . Modern techniques to monitor the assembly mechanisms and characterize the physicochemical properties of said self-assembly systems are highlighted in this work. One of the fundamental objectives of the study was to show that the characteristics of these nanomaterials allow the construction of robust myomimetic functional materials with high programmability and predictability. As if they were molecular-sized Legos.
These “bio-inspired” nanomaterials show promise in a range of applications ranging from drug delivery to photovoltaics. “I am very inspired by Chun-Long’s achievements in this field, and I really believe that he is beginning to discover all kinds of new applications for biomimetic peptoid nanostructures,” said Ronald Zuckermann of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). “His research is opening a new era in biomimetic nanoscience, where we can manipulate synthetic nanomaterials with atomic precision to solve problems of molecular recognition, in catalysis and in therapy.”
Chen’s research focuses on the development of sequence-defined peptoids to mimic natural proteins, both for biomimetic crystallization and for the assembly of biomimetic materials. The structures created by these molecules outnumber individual molecules in properties. An example is that of proteins, which contains various structures that are layered, such as Russian dolls in which one is inside the other. The amino acids join to form the peptide molecules and, these, will form the proteins. But peptides fold to form three-dimensional structures that provide a function to the protein. At a next level, proteins can join together to form complexes for unique functions that go beyond the individual properties of proteins.
A peptoid is a type of peptidomimetic, a molecular structure designed to replace a peptide and replace it to interact with receptors and enzymes. It is like a molecule with an instruction book inside, programmed to perform a specific function, disguised as what it is not but doing what it has to do. Full-fledged labor intrusion, but with a happy ending.
Peptoids (poly-N-substituted glycine) are, therefore, molecules that claim to mimic peptides. They are, therefore, mimetic peptides. They are not entirely new, but they are currently the subject of intense study and have a promising future. J. Simon, Paul Bartlett, and Daniel V. Santi were the first to publish a paper on this in 1992, entitled Peptoids: A Modular Approach to Drug Discovery .
“Creating synthetic polymers that self-assemble into hierarchical nanomaterials in the same way as natural macromolecules is very exciting, although the field is still relatively new,” says Chen. This is one of the novelties and lines of research shown in Chen’s research regarding the origins of peptoids in 1992. The possibilities are literally endless:
“In principle we can use peptoids as a platform for programmable building blocks and assemble them as is done with LEGO building blocks to develop hierarchical materials with high information content”
Chen worked at the LBNL with Ron Zuckermann, one of the creators of the techniques for creating mimetic peptides. Since he has been recruited into the PNNL his research has focused on the design of sequence-defined peptoids capable of self-assembly. It is like throwing the necessary LEGO pieces on a construction platform and having what we want to assemble is built by itself. Saving the distances, obviously. Chen himself remarks that “there were many trials and errors that involved the creation of the molecules themselves and the subsequent formation of large structures.” It is science in its purest form.
Chun-Long Chen and his group will be cast in a special issue on Chemical Review. “It is a great honor for our team to be part of this special issue of molecular self-assembly,” said the scientist. For its imminent publication they have brought together two former colleagues, Zhiliang Li and Bin Cai, currently professors at Shandong University (China). Among the three they sign this article that aims to make an exhaustive analysis of the state of the art of molecular self-assembly in peptoids and other polymers with a defined sequence in nanomaterials, in addition to its possible applications.
One of the authors, Bin Cai, said: “While working with Chun-Long, I gained valuable insights in the field of biochemistry, such as biomolecule design and synthesis, organic synthesis, and molecular self-assembly. […] In addition, his scientific vision and optimistic attitude had a huge impact on me and gave me direction in my career ”. We must be attentive to what Chen achieves, because soon we could have programmed “mini-legos” circulating through our veins.
