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Guest-responsive supramolecular hydrogels expressing selective sol–gel transition for sulfated glycosaminoglycans

Polymer Journal volume 52, pages 939–946 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

This paper describes the stimuli-responsive hydrogels constructed from bola-type amphiphiles composed of two dipeptides containing phenylalanine attached to the ends of a hydrophobic tetrathiophene. The hydrogel formation ability of the amphiphiles was affected by the N-terminal amino acid residue, which is an amphiphile-possessing phenylalanine-lysine sequence that formed a hydrogel under limited pH conditions. Gel formation occurred because of the phase transition of the gelator assembly from a granular aggregate to a fibrous architecture, in a process controlled by pH. This stimuli-responsive sol–gel transition was also accomplished by the addition of an anionic polymer, and sulfated glycosaminoglycans were successfully discriminated using the hydrogel system.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Prof. Hirotaka Ihara, Prof. Makoto Takafuji, and Prof. Yutaka Kuwahara for their kind assistance with the dynamic viscoelasticity measurements. This work was supported by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research C (18K05067, 17K05848). The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for the English language review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nanoscience, Sojo University, 4-22-1 Ikeda, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto, 860-0082, Japan

    Naofumi Kuroda, Yukie Tounoue, Kouichiro Noguchi, Yutaro Shimasaki, Hitoshi Inokawa & Shun-ichi Tamaru

  2. TA Instruments Japan Inc, 5-2-4, Nishigotanda Lexington Plaza Nishigotanda 6f, Shinagawa-ku, 141-0031, Japan

    Masayoshi Takano

  3. Institute for Advanced Study, Kyushu University, 744 Moto-oka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

    Seiji Shinkai

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  1. Naofumi Kuroda
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Correspondence to Shun-ichi Tamaru.

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Kuroda, N., Tounoue, Y., Noguchi, K. et al. Guest-responsive supramolecular hydrogels expressing selective sol–gel transition for sulfated glycosaminoglycans. Polym J 52, 939–946 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-020-0341-x

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