Primary to quaternary structures of molecular assemblies

Abstract

Several kinds of molecular assemblies are prepared from polypeptides and cyclic peptides at various levels of structural regularities, which lead to the current proposal to categorize molecular assemblies into primary to quaternary structures. The categorization places a focal point on phase separation in molecular assemblies because highly sophisticated molecular assemblies have hierarchical organizations of molecules that accompany phase separation and the regular arrangement of chromophores, as frequently observed in nature. Examples of the peptide-based molecular assemblies are thus explained in accordance with the primary to quaternary structures with the aim of implementing nanomaterials in the coming era. Categorization of molecular assemblies of primary to quaternary structures is herein proposed with citing typical examples of peptide molecular assemblies for each category. Primary structure; tubes and vesicles, Secondary structure; chimeric morphology, Tertiary structure; phase-separated tubes, Quaternary structure; hierarchical organization of molecular assemblies.