| Date | 23rd, Jun 2021 |
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image: The coiled-coil protein Q self-assembles and forms fiber-based hydrogels exhibiting upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior with increased elastic properties at pH 7.4 and pH 10. At pH 6, however, Q forms polydisperse nanoparticles, which do not further self-assemble and undergo gelation. view more
Credit: Jin Kim Montclare
BROOKLYN, New York, Wednesday, June 23, 2021 -- Owing to their tunable properties, hydrogels comprising stimuli-sensitive polymers are among the most appealing molecular scaffolds because their versatility allows for applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery and other biomedical fields.
Peptides and proteins are increasingly popular as building blocks because they can be stimulated to self-assemble into nanostructures such as nanoparticles or nanofibers, which enables gelation -- the formation of supramolecular hydrogels that can trap water and small molecules. Engineers, to generate such smart biomaterials, are developing systems that can respond to a multitude of stimuli including heat. Although thermosensitive hydrogels are among widely studied and well-understood class of protein biomaterials, substantial progress is also reportedly being made in incorporating stimuli-responsiveness including pH, light, ionic strength, redox, as well as the addition of small molecules.
A team of researchers at the
