title: Zinc-triggered hydrogelation of self-assembled small molecules to inhibit bacterial growth.
abstract: There is a significant need to develop antibacterial materials that could be applied locally and directly to the places surrounded by large amount of bacteria, in order to address the problems of bacterial antibiotic-resistance or irreversible biofilm formation. Hydrogels are thought to be suitable candidates due to their versatile applications in biomedical field. Among them, small molecular hydrogels have been paid lots of attention because they are easy to design and fabricate and often sensitive to external stimuli. Meanwhile, the antibacterial activity of metal ions are attracting more and more attention because resistance to them are not yet found within bacteria. We therefore designed the zinc ion binding peptide of Nap-GFFYGGGHGRGD, who can self-assemble into hydrogels after binds Zn(2+) and inhibit the growth of bacteria due to the excellent antibacterial activity of Zn(2+). Upon the addition of zinc ions, solutions containing Nap-GFFYGGGHGRGD transformed into supramolecular hydrogels composed of network of long nano-fibers. Bacterial tests revealed an antibacterial effect of the zinc triggered hydrogels on E. coli. The studied small molecular hydrogel shows great potential in locally addressing bacterial infections.
authors.affiliation: National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Department of Pancreatic Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 1] College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China [2] State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yanbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: 1] College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China [2] State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Department of Pancreatic Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jihui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012212:Rheology; D012996:Solutions; D015032:Zinc / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010455:Peptides; D012996:Solutions; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D015032:Zinc