Self-assembled peptide:insights and biomedicine applications

Self-assembled peptides occur via inter-molecular non-covalent assembly, spontaneity or triggering, and the formed nanostructures have been found to have certain features and functions which are not shown by the original peptide molecules or low-hierarchical molecules. There are growing attentions on the self-assembled peptide. This review provides detailed classifications of self-assembled peptides, i. e. , spontaneity and triggering, according to how the self-assemble responds or adjusts to outer environment. In addition, the summary offers potentials of their applications in biomedicine, such as anti-tumor and anti-bacterial medicine, drug carriers modifying pharmaceutical features of drugs, enhanced drug targeting, matrix as cell culture, tissue regeneration, and biomedicinal detection.