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Non-reversible heat-induced gelation of a biocompatible Fmoc-hexapeptide in water

Wojciechowski, Jonathan P. ; Martin, Adam D. ; Du, Eric Y. ; Garvey, Christopher J. LU orcid ; Nordon, Robert E. and Thordarson, Pall (2020) In Nanoscale 12(15). p.8262-8267
Abstract

Hydrogel materials which respond to changes in temperature are widely applicable for injectable drug delivery or tissue engineering applications. Here, we report the unsual heat-induced gelation behaviour of a low molecular weight gelator based on an Fmoc-hexapeptide, Fmoc-GFFRGD. We show that Fmoc-GFFRGD forms kinetically stable fibres when mixed with divalent cations (e.g. Ca2+). Gelation of the mixture occurs upon heating of the mixture which enables electrostatic screening by the divalent cations and hydrophobic collapse of the fibres to give a self-supporting hydrogel network that shows good biocompatibility with L929 fibroblast cells. This work highlights a unique mechanism to initiate heat-induced gelation which should... (More)

Hydrogel materials which respond to changes in temperature are widely applicable for injectable drug delivery or tissue engineering applications. Here, we report the unsual heat-induced gelation behaviour of a low molecular weight gelator based on an Fmoc-hexapeptide, Fmoc-GFFRGD. We show that Fmoc-GFFRGD forms kinetically stable fibres when mixed with divalent cations (e.g. Ca2+). Gelation of the mixture occurs upon heating of the mixture which enables electrostatic screening by the divalent cations and hydrophobic collapse of the fibres to give a self-supporting hydrogel network that shows good biocompatibility with L929 fibroblast cells. This work highlights a unique mechanism to initiate heat-induced gelation which should find opportunities as a gelation trigger for injectable hydrogels or fundamental self-assembly applications.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nanoscale
volume
12
issue
15
pages
6 pages
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • scopus:85083623585
  • pmid:32236222
ISSN
2040-3364
DOI
10.1039/d0nr00289e
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bffa1f49-4a13-4a3a-b2cd-bbf75d4761f8
date added to LUP
2020-05-20 08:53:49
date last changed
2024-06-26 15:28:41
@article{bffa1f49-4a13-4a3a-b2cd-bbf75d4761f8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Hydrogel materials which respond to changes in temperature are widely applicable for injectable drug delivery or tissue engineering applications. Here, we report the unsual heat-induced gelation behaviour of a low molecular weight gelator based on an Fmoc-hexapeptide, Fmoc-GFFRGD. We show that Fmoc-GFFRGD forms kinetically stable fibres when mixed with divalent cations (e.g. Ca<sup>2+</sup>). Gelation of the mixture occurs upon heating of the mixture which enables electrostatic screening by the divalent cations and hydrophobic collapse of the fibres to give a self-supporting hydrogel network that shows good biocompatibility with L929 fibroblast cells. This work highlights a unique mechanism to initiate heat-induced gelation which should find opportunities as a gelation trigger for injectable hydrogels or fundamental self-assembly applications.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wojciechowski, Jonathan P. and Martin, Adam D. and Du, Eric Y. and Garvey, Christopher J. and Nordon, Robert E. and Thordarson, Pall}},
  issn         = {{2040-3364}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{15}},
  pages        = {{8262--8267}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Nanoscale}},
  title        = {{Non-reversible heat-induced gelation of a biocompatible Fmoc-hexapeptide in water}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0nr00289e}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/d0nr00289e}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}