title: A Peptide-Based Mechano-sensitive, Proteolytically Stable Hydrogel with Remarkable Antibacterial Properties.
abstract: A long-chain amino acid containing dipeptide has been found to form a hydrogel in phosphate buffer whose pH ranges from 6.0 to 8.8. The hydrogel formed at pH 7.46 has been characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), wide-angle powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) imaging and rheological analyses. The microscopic imaging studies suggest the formation of a nanofibrillar three-dimensional (3D) network for the hydrogel. As observed visually and confirmed rheologically, the hydrogel at pH 7.46 exhibits thixotropy. This thixotropic property can be exploited to inject the peptide. Furthermore, the hydrogel exhibits remarkable antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are responsible for many common diseases. The hydrogel has practical applicability due to its biocompatibility with human red blood cells and human fibroblast cells. Interestingly, this hydrogel shows high resistance toward proteolytic enzymes, making it a new potential antimicrobial agent for future applications. It has also been observed that a small change in molecular structure of the gelator peptide not only turns the gelator into a nongelator molecule under similar conditions, but it also has a significant negative impact on its bactericidal character.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, India.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baral
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, India.
authors.forename: Subhasish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical, Biological and Macromolecular Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences , Block-JD, Sector-III, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700098, India.
authors.forename: Srabanti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: DUBBLE @ ESRF-The European Synchrotron CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hermida-Merino
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Reading-Whiteknights , Reading, RG6 6AD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ian W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Hamley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032, India.
authors.forename: Arindam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D059748:Proteolysis; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects; D011721:Pyrenes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004151:Dipeptides; D020100:Hydrogels; D011721:Pyrenes; C030984:pyrene