Peptide Self-Assembled Nanostructures: from Models to Therapeutic Pep-2 tides

Self-assembly is the most suitable approach to obtain peptide-based materials on the nano- 9 and mesoscopic scales. Applications span from peptide drugs for personalized therapy to light-har-10 vesting and electron conductive media for solar energy production and bioelectronics. In this con-11 tribution, we will discuss the self-assembly of selected model and bioactive peptides, in particular 12 reviewing our recent work on the formation of peptide architectures of nano- and mesoscopic size 13 in solution and on solid substrates. The hierarchical and cooperative characters of peptide self-as-14 sembly will be highlighted, focusing on the structural and dynamical properties of the peptide 15 building blocks and on the nature of the intermolecular interactions driving the aggregation phe-16 nomena in a given environment. These results pave the way for the understanding of the still-de-17 bated mechanism of action of an antimicrobial peptide (trichogin GA IV) and the pharmacokinetic 18 properties of a peptide drug (semaglutide) currently in use for the therapy of type-II diabetes.