Molecular Level Characterization of the Formation of Peptide Hydrogels
EMSL Project ID
38796
Abstract
Peptide hydrogels are considered good injectable materials for drug delivery systems and tissue engineering applications because of their high water content and polymer networks. Most peptide hydrogels contain hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments and self-assemble into a well-defined nanofibre network that traps water molecules. However, the underlying mechanism of how peptide molecules self-assemble into hydrogels is still unclear, which is critical information for future rational design of peptides with desirable functional properties. The proposed research will focus on obtaining molecular level understanding of the self-assembly pathways of a novel peptide that forms hydrogels with unique properties for biological applications (i..e, drug delivery and tissue engineering). We anticipate that determination of the binding energy between dimers of the peptide molecules and soft-landing experiments will provide unique molecular level information necessary for better understanding the self-assembly pathway of the peptide and determine factors that affect the formation of nanofibers and hydrogels.
Project Details
Project type
Limited Scope
Start Date
2010-01-26
End Date
2010-03-28
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Huang H, J Shi, J Laskin, Z Liu, DS McVey, and XS Sun. 2011. "Design of a shear-thinning recoverable peptide hydrogel from native sequences and application for influenza H1N1 vaccine adjuvant." Soft Matter 7(19):8905-8912. doi:10.1039/C1SM05157A