Self–Assembled Peptide Nanostructures for Biomedical Applications: Advantages and Challenges

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, self-assembled nanostructures based on peptides have been investigated and presented as biomaterials with an impressive potential to be used in different bionanotechnological applications such as sensors, drug delivery bioelectronics, systems, tissue reparation, among others. Several advantages (mild synthesis conditions, relatively simple functionalization, low-cost and fast synthesis) confirm the promise of these biological nanostructures as excellent candidates for such uses. Through self-assembly, peptides can give rise to a range of well-defined nanostructures such as nanotubes, nanofibers, nanoparticles, nanotapes, gels and nanorods. However, there are several challenges that have yet to be extensively approached and solved. Issues like controlling the size during synthesis, the stability in liquid environments and manipulation have to be confronted when trying to integrate these nanostructures in the development of sensing devices or drug-delivery systems. The fact that these issues present difficulties is reflected in the low number of devices or systems using this material in real applications.