Issue 21, 2011

A pH-responsive coiled-coil peptide hydrogel

Abstract

We report the design of an α-helical peptide that forms self-healing hydrogels at weight fractions below 0.1%. Gelation of the 21-residue peptide AFD19 is controlled by changes in pH, whereby highly-charged peptide states give low-viscosity solutions, while thermostable gels form at pH values where the peptide charge lies close to +1 or −1. At pH values where the molecular charge approaches zero, the peptide forms insoluble fibrils. Transitions between the liquid, gel and insoluble states of the peptide are reversible upon addition of acid or base. Electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and electronic circular dichroism studies indicate that gelation occurs when the peptide self-assembles into soluble coiled-coil fibrils that form cross-links below a critical zeta potential. The formation of extended fibrils occurs in the absence of any explicit design to drive helix offsetting.

Graphical abstract: A pH-responsive coiled-coil peptide hydrogel

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Jul 2011
Accepted
18 Aug 2011
First published
01 Sep 2011

Soft Matter, 2011,7, 10210-10218

A pH-responsive coiled-coil peptide hydrogel

N. L. Fletcher, C. V. Lockett and A. F. Dexter, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 10210 DOI: 10.1039/C1SM06261A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements