Enzyme responsive peptide gels for regenerative medicine

TL;DRAbstract

Spontaneous formation of macroscopic hydrogels from small molecule building blocks via selfassembly provides a route toward designed functional biomaterials. We will show that a number of small peptide amphiphiles, consisting of (mixtures of) dipeptides linked to fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) spontaneously form fibrous hydrogels in physiological conditions. The self-assembly process is driven by π-stacking of the conjugated fluorenyl moieties and formation of helical conformations as is demonstrated by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy. The amino acid sequence within the Fmocdipeptide building blocks controls the architecture and the physical properties of the assembled structures. Combinations of Fmoc-dipeptides were identified that formed fibrous hydrogels that were i) stable under cell culture conditions, ii) of similar dimensions to the fibrous components of the extracellular matrix and iii) capable of supporting cell culture of chondrocytes in 3D. We demonstrate t

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