Creating stimulus-responsive materials solely by controlling polypeptide secondary nanostructures is challenging. We synthesized a methyl poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(O-benzyl-L-threonine) (mPEG-PBnLT) diblock copolymer that exhibited gel-to-sol UCST (Upper Critical Solution Temperature) transition behavior in an aqueous solution. The transition temperature window was easily adjusted by changing the copolymer concentration or length of the PBnLT block. Disassembly of the initial β-sheet nanoassemblies caused nanofibril transformation to spherical aggregates with increasing temperature, resulting in a gel-to-sol UCST transition. This result inspires a brand-new strategy for the structural design and functional control of materials.

仅通过控制多肽的二级纳米结构来产生刺激响应材料是具有挑战性的。我们合成了甲基聚（乙二醇）-b-聚（O-苄基-L-苏氨酸）（mPEG-PBnLT）二嵌段共聚物，该共聚物在水溶液中表现出凝胶到溶胶的UCST（临界溶液温度）以上的转变行为。通过改变共聚物浓度或PBnLT嵌段的长度，可以轻松调节转变温度窗口。最初的β-片状纳米组装体的拆卸会导致纳米纤丝随温度升高而转变为球形聚集体，从而导致凝胶到溶胶的UCST转变。这一结果激发了一种针对材料的结构设计和功能控制的全新策略。