Peptide-Based Low Molecular Weight Photosensitive Supramolecular Gelators

Abstract

Over the last couple of decades, stimuli-responsive supramolecular gels comprising synthetic short peptides as building blocks have been explored for various biological and material applications. Though a wide range of stimuli has been tested depending on the structure of the peptides, light as a stimulus has attracted extensive attention due to its non-invasive, non-contaminant, and remotely controllable nature, precise spatial and temporal resolution, and wavelength tunability. The integration of molecular photo-switch and low-molecular-weight synthetic peptides may thus provide access to supramolecular self-assembled systems, notably supramolecular gels, which may be used to create dynamic, light-responsive “smart” materials with a variety of structures and functions. This short review summarizes the recent advancement in the area of light-sensitive peptide gelation. At first, a glimpse of commonly used molecular photo-switches is given, followed by a detailed description of their incorporation into peptide sequences to design light-responsive peptide gels and the mechanism of their action. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives for developing next-generation photo-responsive gels and materials are outlined.

External Stimuli-Responsive Characteristics of Poly(N,N′-diethylacrylamide) Hydrogels: Effect of Double Network Structure

“…Stimuli-responsive polymer hydrogels that are able to respond to the changes in temperature [ 1 ], pH [ 2 ], humidity [ 3 ], light [ 4 ], specific ions or molecules [ 5 ], electrical fields [ 6 ], solvent [ 7 ] and ionic strength [ 8 ] have been extensively studied due to potential applications in the areas of drug delivery [ 9 ], microlenses [ 10 ], sensors [ 1 ] and artificial organs [ 11 ].…”

Short Peptide-Based Smart Thixotropic Hydrogels

“…[ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Hydrogels are three-dimensional (3D) cross-linked polymeric networks in which a substantial amount of water is entrapped and have been universally accepted biomaterials for tissue engineering applications [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. The 3D fibrous networks of these hydrogels efficiently mimic the fibrous part of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein architectures and are capable of sustaining cell differentiation and growth when applied as coatings or 3D matrices [ 30 ].…”

“…Among them, low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) have attracted enormous attention in the field of medicine compared to other materials such as polymers, such as polymers, polypeptides [ 31 , 32 ], and nanocomposites, owing to their facile synthesis, high scalability, low-cost production, spontaneous self-assembly, stimuli responsiveness, injectability, etc. [ 9 , 19 , 23 , 27 , 33 ]. In comparison, most of other materials except for LMWGs rely on organic synthesis and polymerization.…”

Self-assembly and Hydrogelation Properties of Peptides Derived from Peptic Cleavage of Aggregation-prone Regions of Ovalbumin

“…For example, mixing of antidiabetic hempseed hydrolysates with the hydrogel forming RADA16 peptide at a 1:3 ratio (hydrolysate:RADA16) ensured the biostability of the anti-dipeptidyl peptidase-IV activity of the hydrolysates [ 14 ]. Owing to their ultra-natural state, food peptides are generally safe and have potential bioactivities, making them an excellent starting material for producing functionalized peptide hydrogels [ 15 ]. Furthermore, they are easily mass-producible via solid phase peptide synthesis and structurally modifiable to better suit their intended applications [ 7 , 15 ].…”