1.D.106. The Synthetic Self-assembly Y-shaped Aromatic Pore-precursor (SSYAP) Family
The SSYAP family resulted from a complex synthesis pathway resulting in the preparation of a Y-shaped hydrophobic aromatic string of residues and chemical moieties that insert into membranes to form pores, therreby killing cancer cells (Du et al. 2018). Self-assembly-directed membrane insertion of the synthetic analogues was observed. An expanded pi-conjugation-based molecular precursor resulted that had extremely high rigidity and a long hydrophobic length that was comparable to the hydrophobic width of a plasma membrane. The originally soluble precursors were transformed into hydrophobic monomers for self-assembly, inserting exclusively into the fluid phase of membranes. Membrane insertion of these rigid synthetic analogues destroyed the selective permeability of the membrane (Du et al. 2018).