title: Mixing biomimetic heterodimers of nucleopeptides to generate biocompatible and biostable supramolecular hydrogels.
abstract: As a new class of biomaterials, most supramolecular hydrogels formed by small peptides require the attachment of long alkyl chains, multiple aromatic groups, or strong electrostatic interactions. Based on the fact that the most abundant protein assemblies in nature are dimeric, we select short peptide sequences from the interface of a heterodimer of proteins with known crystal structure to conjugate with nucleobases to form nucleopeptides. Being driven mainly by hydrogen bonds, the nucleopeptides self-assemble to form nanofibers, which results in supramolecular hydrogels upon simple mixing of two distinct nucleopeptides in water. Moreover, besides being biocompatible to mammalian cells, the heterodimer of the nucleopeptides exhibit excellent proteolytic resistance against proteinase K. This work illustrates a new and rational approach to create soft biomaterials by a supramolecular hydrogelation triggered by mixing heterodimeric nucleopeptides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South St, Waltham, MA 02454 (USA).
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Xuewen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D019281:Dimerization; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D010455:Peptides
keywords: biocompatibility; biostability; hydrogels; nucleopeptide; supramolecular chemistry