{
  "abstract": "We present a lipopeptide conjugate, farnesyl-mercapto(diethylene glycol)-KTTKS (FMdEG-KTTKS), designed to include the KTTKS collagen-stimulating sequence attached to a terpenoid branched lipid chain via a short hydrophilic spacer. This conjugate stimulates fibroblasts to produce greater than 200% more collagen per cell than conventional stimulants. This activity is observed at low concentration, well below a critical micelle concentration (CMC) determined by fluorescence probe measurements. Above the CMC, this molecule self-assembles into well-defined spherical micelles, as shown by cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The behaviour of this conjugate is contrasted with that of related lipopeptides: FMdEG-KTTKS forms micelles across a wide pH range, instead of nanotapes observed for C₁₆-KTTKS (Matrixyl™). The molecule is shown to stimulate production of type I collagen (beneficial for anti-aging treatments) and promotes repopulation of fibroblasts in a cell monolayer after scratching, as a simple model for skin injury. FMdEG-KTTKS also has anti-inflammatory activity, reducing the production of nitrite in macrophages challenged with bacterial lipopolysaccharide.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Chemistry, Food Biosciences and Pharmacy, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AD, UK. I.W.Hamley@reading.ac.uk.",
    "Nanomicroscopy Center, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 2, FIN-02150 Espoo, Finland."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lucas de Mello"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Valeria Castelletto",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3705-0162"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jani Seitsonen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ian W Hamley",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4549-0926"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bds9e0zmqxnk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6nr03203f",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13726402",
  "id": "6bds9e0zmqxnk",
  "issns": [
    "2040-3364",
    "2040-3372"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42969504",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Chemistry"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1605|Surfactants and Colloidal Systems"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7168292887",
  "pdf_url": "https://pubs.rsc.org/nr/article-pdf/doi/10.1039/D6NR03203F/14942987/d6nr03203f.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13726402",
  "pmid": "42969504",
  "published": "2026-10-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bds9e0zmqxnk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T15:20:53Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42969504",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42969504"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-05T12:22:46Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13726402",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6nr03203f"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1605|Surfactants and Colloidal Systems",
      "subfield": "organic"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Collagen-stimulating activity of a pentapeptide conjugate and self-assembly into micelles.",
  "title_text": "Collagen-stimulating activity of a pentapeptide conjugate and self-assembly into micelles.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:22:23Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bds9e0zmqxnk",
  "venue": "Nanoscale",
  "versions": []
}