23
May 2002
Polymer chemistry: Gel talk
A new class of hydrogels has been synthesized from molecules normally be expected to form discrete, micelle structures. The gelation of these short, self-assembling, diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles is believed to be due to both chain conformation and the amphiphilicity of the molecules. The gels contain α-helical and β-strands — structures regularly found in proteins, but not often in synthetic peptides. These synthetic gels avoid problems that can be caused by medical use of proteins extracted from natural sources, so could show promise for biotechnological and biomedical applications.
Rapidly recovering hydrogel scaffolds from self-assembling diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles
ANDREW P. NOWAK, VICTOR BREEDVELD, LISA PAKSTIS, BULENT OZBAS, DAVID J. PINE, DARRIN POCHAN & TIMOTHY J. DEMING
Nature 417, 424–428 (23 May 2002)
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Polymer chemistry: Swell gels
JINDRICH KOPECEK
Linked chains of polymers can form hydrogels, whose properties are attractive for biomedical applications. It seems that the molecular arrangement of the polymer ingredients is central to hydrogel performance.
Nature 417, 388–391 (23 May 2002)
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