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Thiol‐ene Photocrosslinking of Cytocompatible Resilin‐Like Polypeptide‐PEG Hydrogels
Author(s) -
McGann Christopher L.,
Dumm Rebekah E.,
Jurusik Anna K.,
Sidhu Ishnoor,
Kiick Kristi L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201500305
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , photoinitiator , click chemistry , peg ratio , ene reaction , norbornene , polymer chemistry , chemistry , thiol , bioadhesive , polymerization , polymer , organic chemistry , economics , monomer , finance
A range of chemical strategies have been used for crosslinking recombinant polypeptide hydrogels, although only a few have employed photocrosslinking approaches. Here, we capitalize on the novel insect protein, resilin, and the versatility of click reactions to introduce a resilin‐like polypeptide (RLP) that is capable of photoinitiated thiol‐ene crosslinking. Lysine residues of the RLP were functionalized with norbornene acid as confirmed via 1H‐NMR spectroscopy. The RLPNs were subsequently photocrosslinked with multi‐arm PEG thiols in the presence of a photoinitiator to form elastic hybrid hydrogels. The crosslinking reaction and resulting RLP‐PEG networks demonstrated cytocompatibility with human mesenchymal stem cells in both 2D cell‐adhesion and 3D photoencapsulation studies.