MALDI-imaging enables direct observation of kinetic and thermodynamic products of mixed peptide fiber assembly.

Abstract

Controlling the self-assembly of multicomponent systems provides a key to designing new materials and understanding the molecular complexity of biology. Here, we demonstrate the first use of MALDI-imaging to characterize a multicomponent self-assembling peptide fiber. Observations of mixed peptide systems over time demonstrate how simple sequence variation can change the balance between kinetic and thermodynamic products.