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Rapidly recovering hydrogel scaffolds from self-assembling diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles

Nature volume 417, pages 424–428 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Protein-based hydrogels are used for many applications, ranging from food and cosmetic thickeners to support matrices for drug delivery and tissue replacement1,2,3. These materials are usually prepared using proteins extracted from natural sources, which can give rise to inconsistent properties unsuitable for medical applications4. Recent developments have utilized recombinant DNA methods to prepare artificial protein hydrogels with specific association mechanisms and responsiveness to various stimuli5,6. Here we synthesize diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles containing charged and hydrophobic segments. Dilute solutions of these copolypeptides would be expected to form micelles; instead, they form hydrogels that retain their mechanical strength up to temperatures of about 90 °C and recover rapidly after stress. The use of synthetic materials permits adjustment of copolymer chain length and composition, which we varied to study their effect on hydrogel formation and properties. We find that gelation depends not only on the amphiphilic nature of the polypeptides, but also on chain conformations—α-helix, β-strand or random coil. Indeed, shape-specific supramolecular assembly is integral to the gelation process, and provides a new class of peptide-based hydrogels with potential for applications in biotechnology.

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Figure 1: Gelation behaviour of aqueous diblock copolypeptide solutions.
Figure 2: Rheology of diblock copolypeptide solutions.
Figure 3: Molecular conformation of diblock copolypeptides.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (Chemical and Transport Systems, and MRSEC Program). V.B. thanks the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for a Talent-grant. We thank J. Hu for assistance with NMR experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Materials and Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    Andrew P. Nowak & Timothy J. Deming

  2. Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    Andrew P. Nowak, Victor Breedveld, David J. Pine & Timothy J. Deming

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    Victor Breedveld & David J. Pine

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19716, USA

    Lisa Pakstis, Bulent Ozbas & Darrin Pochan

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  1. Andrew P. Nowak
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Correspondence to Timothy J. Deming.

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Nowak, A., Breedveld, V., Pakstis, L. et al. Rapidly recovering hydrogel scaffolds from self-assembling diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles. Nature 417, 424–428 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/417424a

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