Premium
Advances and Biomedical Applications of Polypeptide Hydrogels Derived from α‐Amino Acid N ‐Carboxyanhydride (NCA) Polymerizations
Author(s) -
Zhou Xianfeng,
Li Zhibo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced healthcare materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.288
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2192-2659
pISSN - 2192-2640
DOI - 10.1002/adhm.201800020
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , biocompatibility , drug delivery , tissue engineering , polymerization , extracellular matrix , materials science , cell encapsulation , nanotechnology , polymer , chemistry , polymer chemistry , biomedical engineering , biochemistry , engineering , metallurgy , composite material
Polypeptide hydrogels, having the ability to mimic certain properties of natural, native extracellular matrix components, are being actively designed and described for various applications in the construction of tissue engineering scaffolds, living cell encapsulation, and drug delivery systems. Compared to conventional hydrogels, polypeptide hydrogels possess biocompatibility, biodegradability, bioactivity, functional diversity, and structural advantage based on the unique secondary structures (α‐helix and β‐sheet). Furthermore, the progresses in functional N ‐carboxyanhydride polymerization combined with advanced orthogonal conjugation techniques significantly promote the development of the polypeptide materials. This progress report focuses on the recent advances in designing and engineering polypeptide hydrogels obtained from ring opening polymerization, highlighting the precise manipulation of their properties for biomedical applications.