Morphology-directed ice-water interface control through concentration-dependent self-assembly of cyclic peptide-PEG conjugates

Abstract

Ice crystal formation poses critical challenges in cryopreservation, where uncontrolled growth causes mechanical and osmotic cellular damage. While antifreeze proteins (AFPs) offer elegant natural solutions, their limited scalability and immunogenicity necessitate synthetic alternatives. We report cyclic peptide (CP)-polyethylene glycol (PEG) conjugates that undergo concentration-dependent self-assembly into programmable nanoarchitectures with morphology-directed ice-binding activity, forming one-dimensional nanotube networks above the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) and two-dimensional porous nanosheets near the CAC