Collagen mimetics

Abstract

Collagen peptidomimetics have been synthesized as an alternative to natural collagen. The incorporation of unnatural residues such as peptoids in the collagen sequences can demonstrate potent and specific biological activity and enhance the biostability against enzymatic degradation. Furthermore, the use of achiral peptoids simplifies synthetic strategies by reducing racemization problems. The peptoid residue N-isobutylglycine (Nleu) has been successfully incorporated into a series of collagen mimetics composed of Gly-Pro-Nleu, Gly-Nleu-Pro, and Gly-Nleu-Nleu. The discovery of template-assembled collagen mimetics and metal binding ability has laid the foundation for new opportunities in the design of novel collagen mimetic complexes. The review summarizes the synthesis and integrated biophysical analyses of the structures of these collagen mimetics. Solid phase segment condensation techniques have been utilized for the synthesis of the single chain and template-assembled analogues. The characterization of the collagen-like structures has been established by temperature-dependent optical rotation measurements. CD, NMR spectroscopy, and molecular modelling simulations.