Modification Methods and Applications of Self-Assembly Peptides

Self-assembly peptide is a kind of peptide material that can form assembly under certain conditions due to the intermolecular forces such as pi-pi stacking and electrostatic interaction. This class of material exhibits good biocompatibility and controllability, and can form nanostructures such as granules, fibers and gels, which play a specific morphologic function and are widely used in biomedicine and other fields. In order to meet the needs of drug delivery, disease diagnosis and regulation of hydrophilic hydrophobic balance of peptides, it is necessary to perform modification for peptides. Due to the assembly characteristics of peptides and their biological functions, modified peptides have more advantages than the unmodified ones. Thus, functional modification for self- assembly peptides has been investigated intensively in recent years. The modification sites in peptide are usually the carboxyl and amino groups at both ends, as well as the active groups on the amino acid side chain. However, it is difficult for some molecules to react with peptides directly. Accordingly, two modification methods, i.e. direct and indirect modifications, have been developed in research. In this paper, the recent functionalization methods of self-assembly peptides and relevant applications are reviewed.