Synthetic collagen mimics: self-assembly of homotrimers, heterotrimers and higher order structures

• Published in: Chemical Society reviews Vol. 39; no. 9; pp. 3510 - 3527
• Main Authors: Fallas, Jorge A., O'Leary, Lesley E. R., Hartgerink, Jeffrey D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Animals; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - metabolism; Biomimetics; collagen; Collagen - chemistry; extracellular matrix; Humans; Nanostructures - chemistry; peptides; Protein Multimerization; receptors

Collagen is a fascinating system of proteins that undergo a multi-step, hierarchical self-assembly which starts from individual peptide chains that assemble into a canonical triple helix. These triple helices then assemble into higher order structures which are often, but not always, fibrous in natu...