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Methods to Characterize the Nanostructure and Molecular Organization of Amphiphilic Peptide Assemblies

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Book cover Peptide Self-Assembly

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1777))

Abstract

Methods to characterize the nanostructure and molecular organization of aggregates of peptides such as amyloid or amphiphilic peptide assemblies are reviewed. We discuss techniques to characterize conformation and secondary structure including circular and linear dichroism and FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, as well as fluorescence methods to detect aggregation. NMR spectroscopy methods, especially solid-state NMR measurements to probe beta-sheet packing motifs, are also briefly outlined. Also discussed are scattering methods including X-ray diffraction and small-angle scattering techniques including SAXS (small-angle X-ray scattering) and SANS (small-angle neutron scattering) and dynamic light scattering. Imaging methods are direct methods to uncover features of peptide nanostructures, and we provide a summary of electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. Selected examples are highlighted showing data obtained using these techniques, which provide a powerful suite of methods to probe ordering from the molecular scale to the aggregate superstructure.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by EPSRC Platform Grant reference EPSRC EP/L020599/1. We thank our collaborators for their vital contributions to several aspects of our ongoing research, especially in the fields of AFM imaging (Prof Raffaele Mezzenga and Dr. Jozef Adamcik, ETH Zürich) and cryo-TEM imaging (Prof Janne Ruokolainen and his team at Aalto University, Finland).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    V. Castelletto & I. W. Hamley

Authors
  1. V. Castelletto
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  2. I. W. Hamley
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Correspondence to V. Castelletto or I. W. Hamley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA

    Bradley L. Nilsson

  2. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Todd M. Doran

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Castelletto, V., Hamley, I.W. (2018). Methods to Characterize the Nanostructure and Molecular Organization of Amphiphilic Peptide Assemblies. In: Nilsson, B., Doran, T. (eds) Peptide Self-Assembly. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1777. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7811-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7811-3_1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7809-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7811-3

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