Patent ID: 6613875
Filing Date: 2003-09-02
Classification: C07K

Abstract:
A method for constructing molecular tubes comprising the following steps:Step A: providing a solution having cyclic peptides solubilized therein, each of said cyclic peptides having at least one hydrophobic amino acid residue for solubilizing said cyclic peptide with respect to a lipid membrane, said cyclic peptides being homodetic and having an amino acid sequence with a length between 6 and 16 amino acid residues, a repeating D-L chirality motif, and an even number of amino acid residues; and then Step B: contacting the solution of said Step A with the lipid membrane for transferring the cyclic peptides from the solution to the lipid membrane; and then Step C: forming one or more molecular tubes within said lipid membrane by allowing self-assembly of the cyclic peptides with stacking of the cyclic peptides upon one another in an anti-parallel fashion with a formation of &bgr;-sheet hydrogen bonds between adjacent cyclic peptides, at least one of said molecular tubes having four or more cyclic peptides.