title: Supramolecular hydrogels based on short peptides linked with conformational switch.
abstract: Short peptides appropriately linked with an azobenzene conformational switch were found to be motif and pH dependant supramolecular hydrogelators. The hydrogelation properties of the short peptides linked with the conformational switch were studied in detail with respect to dependence on amino acid residue, pH and salt effect. The presence of amino acids with aromatic side chains such as Phe and Tyr was found to be favorable for the short peptides to gel water at an appropriate pH range. Cationic amino acid residues such as Arg and Lys in the short peptides were found to be unfavorable for hydrogelation. pH and salt effect were also found to be important factors for the hydrogelation properties of the short peptides. A series of short peptides with bioactive sequences were linked with the conformational switch and their hydrogelation properties were investigated. Photoresponsive supramolecular hydrogels were realized based on the E-/Z- transition of the conformational switch upon light irradiation. Proper combination of amino acid residues in the short peptides resulted in smart supramolecular hydrogels with responses to multiple stimuli.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Lab of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Ministry of Education of China, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yucheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhenjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Yanmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Hongkun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D020100:Hydrogels; D010455:Peptides; C009850:azobenzene