Design and Creation of Functional Membrane-Interacting Peptides

Abstract

Peptides provide a unique platform for creation of biofunctional molecules. Peptide design can be motivated by natural protein structures or attained de novo. For designed peptides to exert expected functions, a specific structure is needed whereby membranes can be employed to obtain stabilized helical structures. In biological systems, membranes are not limited to simple barriers between the extracellular and intracellular spaces or barriers that delineate intracellular compartments; they also stabilize the structures of peptides and proteins. Here, we review our approaches to the creation of membrane-interacting amphiphilic peptides as artificial ligand-gated ion channels, enhancers of cellular uptake of bioactive materials, and modulators of membrane lipid packing.