Supramolecular self-assembly to control structural and biological properties of multicomponent hydrogels

Okesola, B. O., Wu, Y., Derkus, B., Gani, S., Wu, D., Knani, D., Smith, D. K., Adams, D. J. and Mata, A. (2019) Supramolecular self-assembly to control structural and biological properties of multicomponent hydrogels. Chemistry of Materials, 31(19), pp. 7883-7897. (doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b01882) (PMID:31631941) (PMCID:PMC6792223)

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Abstract

Self-assembled nanofibers are ubiquitous in nature and serve as inspiration for the design of supramolecular hydrogels. A multicomponent approach offers the possibility of enhancing tunability and functionality of this class of materials. We report on the synergistic multicomponent self-assembly involving a peptide amphiphile (PA) and a 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol (DBS) gelator to generate hydrogels with tunable nanoscale morphology, improved stiffness, enhanced self-healing, and stability to enzymatic degradation. Using induced circular dichroism of Thioflavin T (ThT), electron microscopy, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and molecular dynamics approaches we confirm that the PA undergoes self-sorting while the DBS-gelator acts as an additive modifier for the PA nanofibers. The supramolecular interactions between the PA and DBS gelators result in improved bulk properties and cytocompatibility of the two-component hydrogels as compared to the single component systems. The tunable mechanical properties, self-healing ability, resistance to proteolysis, and biocompatibility of the hydrogels suggest future opportunities for the hydrogels as scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery vehicles.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The work was supported by the ERC Starting Grant (STROFUNSCAFF) and the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP2) Acellular/Smart Materials. DA thanks the EPSRC for a fellowship (EP/L021978/1). DKS gratefully thanks the EPSRC for funding support (EP/P03361X/1). The experiment at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source was allocated beam time under Xpress access proposal 1890153 and collected on SANS2D. This work benefitted from the SasView software, originally developed by the DANSE project under NSF award DMR-0520547.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Adams, Dave
Authors: Okesola, B. O., Wu, Y., Derkus, B., Gani, S., Wu, D., Knani, D., Smith, D. K., Adams, D. J., and Mata, A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
Journal Name:Chemistry of Materials
Publisher:American Chemical Society
ISSN:0897-4756
ISSN (Online):1520-5002
Published Online:12 September 2019
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society
First Published:First published in Chemistry of Materials 31(19):7883-7897
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
174004Multicomponent Supramolecular HydrogelsDave AdamsEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/L021978/2Chemistry