Redox-responsive diphenylalanine aggregate mediated by cyclodextrin

The molecular assembling properties can be dramatically improved using redox-responsive nanoplatforms, which can bring quite different aggregation modes and binding behaviors in the redox states. In this work, we fabricated a redox-responsive system based on the host-guest complexation of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) with ferrocene-modified diphenylalanine (Fc-FF). The morphological conversion of Fc-FF can be easily achieved from nanofibers to nanospheres in the presence of beta-CD, and the supramolecular nanospheres can be reversibly assembled and disassembled by the chemical redox of ferrocenyl groups in the Fc-FF subset of beta-CD nanoassemblies. These results demonstrate that the incorporation of stimuli-switchable components with macrocyclic receptors may become a promising approach to the construction of smart peptide-involved supramolecular assemblies. (C) 2018 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.