Provides deep insight into the concepts and recent developments in the area of supramolecular chemistry in water Written by experts in their respective field, this comprehensive reference covers various aspects of supramolecular chemistry in water?from fundamental aspects to applications. It provides readers with a basic introduction to the current understanding of the properties of water and how they influence molecular recognition, and examines the different receptor types available in water and the types of substrates that can be bound. It also looks at areas to where they can be applied, such as materials, optical sensing, medicinal imaging, and catalysis. Supramolecular Chemistry in Water offers five major sections that address important topics like water properties, molecular recognition, association and aggregation phenomena, optical detection and imaging, and supramolecular catalysis. It covers chemistry and physical chemistry of water; water-mediated molecular recognition; peptide and protein receptors; nucleotide receptors; carbohydrate receptors; and ion receptors. The book also teaches readers all about coordination compounds; self-assembled polymers and gels; foldamers; vesicles and micelles; and surface-modified nanoparticles. In addition, it provides in-depth information on indicators and optical probes, as well as probes for medical imaging. -Covers, in a timely manner, an emerging area in chemistry that is growing more important every day -Addresses topics such as molecular recognition, aggregation, catalysis, and more -Offers comprehensive coverage of everything from fundamental aspects of supramolecular chemistry in water to its applications -Edited by one of the leading international scientists in the field Supramolecular Chemistry in Water is a one-stop-resource for all polymer chemists, catalytic chemists, biochemists, water chemists, and physical chemists involved in this growing area of research.

Liquid crystals exhibit amazingly interesting properties that make them indispensable for several technological applications. The book Liquid Crystals - Recent Advancements in Fundamental and Device Technologies is aimed to focus on various aspects of research and development that liquid crystal mediums have come across in recent years. This would be ranging from the physical and chemical properties to the important applications that the liquid crystals have in our everyday life. It is expected that the book will make the expert researchers to be abreast of recent research advancements, whereas the novice researchers will benefit from both the conceptual understanding and the recent developments in the area. Multitudes of research themes and directions pivoted to liquid crystals remain the essence, which the readers would get the glimpse of and move ahead for further investigations.

Solid-binding peptides have been used increasingly as molecular building blocks in nanobiotechnology as they can direct the assembly and functionalisation of a diverse range of materials and have the ability to regulate the synthesis of nanoparticles and complex nanostructures. Nanostructured materials such as β-sheet fibril-forming peptides and α-helical coiled coil systems have displayed many useful properties including stimulus-responsiveness, modularity and multi-functionality, providing potential technological applications in tissue engineering, antimicrobials, drug delivery and nanoscale electronics. The current situation with respect to self-assembling peptides and bioactive matrices for regenerative medicine are reviewed, as well as peptide-target modeling and an examination of future prospects for peptides in these areas.

Originally a special issue of Chemistry & Biodiversity, this is an excellent overview of the status of contemporary studies in peptaibiotics, covering aspects ranging from the search for novel bioactive compounds to considerations of their membrane-modifying properties.

Lasso peptides form a growing family of fascinating ribosomally-synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides produced by bacteria. They contain 15 to 24 residues and share a unique interlocked topology that involves an N-terminal 7 to 9-residue macrolactam ring where the C-terminal tail is threaded and irreversibly trapped. The ring results from the condensation of the N-terminal amino group with a side-chain carboxylate of a glutamate at position 8 or 9, or an aspartate at position 7, 8 or 9. The trapping of the tail involves bulky amino acids located in the tail below and above the ring and/or disulfide bridges connecting the ring and the tail. Lasso peptides are subdivided into three subtypes depending on the absence (class II) or presence of one (class III) or two (class I) disulfide bridges. The lasso topology results in highly compact structures that give to lasso peptides an extraordinary stability towards both protease degradation and denaturing conditions. Lasso peptides are generally receptor antagonists, enzyme inhibitors and/or antibacterial or antiviral (anti-HIV) agents. The lasso scaffold and the associated biological activities shown by lasso peptides on different key targets make them promising molecules with high therapeutic potential. Their application in drug design has been exemplified by the development of an integrin antagonist based on a lasso peptide scaffold. The biosynthesis machinery of lasso peptides is therefore of high biotechnological interest, especially since such highly compact and stable structures have to date revealed inaccessible by peptide synthesis. Lasso peptides are produced from a linear precursor LasA, which undergoes a maturation process involving several steps, in particular cleavage of the leader peptide and cyclization. The post-translational modifications are ensured by a dedicated enzymatic machinery, which is composed of an ATP-dependent cysteine protease (LasB) and a lactam synthetase (LasC) that form an enzymatic complex called lasso synthetase. Microcin J25, produced by Escherichia coli AY25, is the archetype of lasso peptides and the most extensively studied. To date only around forty lasso peptides have been isolated, but genome mining approaches have revealed that they are widely distributed among Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, particularly in Streptomyces, making available a rich resource of novel lasso peptides and enzyme machineries towards lasso topologies.

Synthesis of Polypeptides by Ring-Opening Polymerization of α-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides, by Jianjun Cheng and Timothy J. Deming.- Peptide Synthesis and Self-Assembly, by S. Maude, L. R. Tai, R. P. W. Davies, B. Liu, S. A. Harris, P. J. Kocienski and A. Aggeli.- Elastomeric Polypeptides, by Mark B. van Eldijk, Christopher L. McGann, Kristi L. Kiick andJan C. M. van Hest.- Self-Assembled Polypeptide and Polypeptide Hybrid Vesicles: From Synthesis to Application, by Uh-Joo Choe, Victor Z. Sun, James-Kevin Y. Tan and Daniel T. Kamei.- Peptide-Based and Polypeptide-Based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering, by Aysegul Altunbas and Darrin J. Pochan.-