Self-assembly and mineralization of peptide-amphiphile nanofibers

1. A peptide amphiphile composition comprising a peptide amphiphile selected from the group consisting of

CCCCGGGSRGD (SEQ ID NO: 2),

CCCCGGGSRGDS (SEQ ID NO: 17),

CCCCGGGSKGE (SEQ ID NO: 11),

CCCCGGGEIKVAV (SEQ ID NO: 16),

AAAAGGGSRGD (SEQ ID NO: 9),

AAAAGGGSKGE (SEQ ID NO: 12), and

GGGSRGD (SEQ ID NO: 7),

wherein the serine residue in the peptide amphiphile is optionally phosphorylated and wherein a C 10 -C 22 hydrocarbon component is attached to the N-terminus of the peptide component, which directs said composition to form a cylindrical micelle in an aqueous medium.

2. The peptide amphiphile composition of claim 1 , wherein said peptide amphiphile is CCCCGGGEIKVAV (SEQ ID NO: 16).

3. The peptide amphiphile composition of claim 1 , wherein said peptide amphiphile is AAAAGGGSRGD (SEQ ID NO:2).

4. The peptide amphiphile composition of claim 3 , wherein the serine residue of the peptide amphiphile is phosphorylated.

5. A sol-gel system comprising a solvent medium comprising a peptide amphiphile composition of claim 1 , and a reagent to adjust system pH.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said reagent is an acid, said pH is less than about 4, and said system comprises a gel of cylindrical micelles of said amphiphile composition.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein said reagent is a base, said pH is greater than about 4, and said system comprises a solution of said amphiphile composition.

8. The system of claim 7 further comprising an oxidizing agent to form a disulfide bond between amphiphile compositions.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising a subsequent reducing agent to cleave said disulfide bond.

10. A nanofibrous micelle template for crystal growth, said template comprising an amphiphile composition of claim 1 , said peptide component of said composition comprising a residue with a functional moiety capable of intermolecular covalent bond formation.

11. The template of claim 10 comprising a plurality of cysteine residues, wherein the thiol moieties thereof are oxidized to form a disulfide bond between amphiphile compositions.

12. The template of claim 10 wherein said peptide amphiphile component comprises at least one phosphoserine residue.

13. An organo-mineral composite comprising a nanofibrous micelle template of claim 12 , and hydroxyapatite crystals on said micelle template, the c-axes of said crystals aligned substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of said template.