Modification of gelation kinetics in bioactive peptide amphiphiles

Krista L. Niece, Catherine Czeisler, Vibhu Sahni, Vicki Tysseling-Mattiace, Eugene T. Pashuck, John A. Kessler, Samuel I. Stupp*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

86 Scopus citations

Abstract

Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) previously designed in our laboratory are known to self-assemble into nanofibers that exhibit bioactivity both in vitro and in vivo. Self-assembly can be triggered by charge neutralization or salt-mediated screening of charged residues in their peptide sequences, and the resulting nanofibers can form macroscopic gels at concentrations as low as 0.5% by weight. Controlling the kinetics of gelation while retaining the bioactivity of nanofibers could be critical in tailoring these materials for specific clinical applications. We report here on a series of PAs with different rates of gelation resulting from changes in their peptide sequence without changing the bioactive segment. The pre-existence of hydrogen-bonded aggregates in the solution state of more hydrophobic PAs appears to accelerate gelation kinetics. Mutation of the peptide sequence to include more hydrophilic and bulky amino acids suppresses formation of these nuclei and effectively slows down gelation through self-assembly of the nanofiber network. The ability to modify gelation kinetics in self-assembling systems without disrupting bioactivity could be important for injectable therapies in regenerative medicine.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4501-4509
Number of pages9
JournalBiomaterials
Volume29
Issue number34
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2008

Funding

This work was mainly supported by NIH grant 5 R01 EB003806 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. Additional support (for J.A.K.) was obtained from NIH grants NS20013-21 and P50 NS54287. The authors are also grateful to Professor Wesley Burghardt for the use of his laboratory's rheometer and to Professor Aaron Packman for the use of his laboratory's ZetaPALS instrument and to the NUANCE facility (Northwestern University) for TEM access.

Keywords

  • Bioactive nanofibers
  • Gelation kinetics
  • Peptide amphiphile
  • Self-assembly

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics
  • Bioengineering
  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Biomaterials
  • Mechanics of Materials

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