Peptoids for biomimetic hierarchical structures

Abstract

Life as we know it is impossible without formation of hierarchical structures. First and foremost, proteins, that is, sequence-specific polypeptides, are nature0s vanguard in this respect. Peptoids and polypeptoids are structural isomers and analogs to peptides and polypeptides. Here, we review the advancements over the last few years on biomimetic hierarchical structures obtained using polypeptoids. Although the inherently more flexible amide bond in peptoids make the stabilization of secondary structure challenging, it also gives us a tool to direct the conformation of the amide bond by design. As will be seen, this is a particularly important feature of peptoids. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.