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Inherently Antibacterial Hydrogels: Altering Activity via Tryptophan/Arginine Interactions
Author(s) -
Larsen Tyler John,
Salick Daphne,
Nagarkar Radhika,
Schneider Joel
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.521.3
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , antibacterial activity , circular dichroism , self assembling peptide , peptide , chemistry , antibacterial peptide , biophysics , antimicrobial , self healing , staphylococcus aureus , antimicrobial peptides , oligopeptide , self assembly , nanotechnology , materials science , bacteria , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology , genetics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Hydrogels are heavily hydrated materials that show considerable promise as artificial extracellular matrices for use in tissue regenerative therapies. The development of antibacterial hydrogels has been of great interest to the hydrogel research community as a means to combat the threat of infection during material implantation. We have developed MAX1, a self‐assembling β‐hairpin peptide hydrogel whose surface exhibits inherent antibacterial activity against several pathogens prevalent in hospital settings. Under physiological conditions, MAX1 self‐assembles into a crosslinked, mechanically rigid hydrogel, but the process is too slow for use as an injectable implant. This study aims to design a hydrogel with rapid self‐assembly and high rigidity under physiological conditions while maintaining potent inherent antibacterial activity through incorporation of cation‐π interactions, which are common in antibacterial peptides found in nature. A new β‐hairpin peptide (RWMAX1) was designed, incorporating a cross‐strand R/W pair into the MAX1 sequence. The folding and self‐assembly properties were assessed using circular dichroism and rheology and the antibacterial activity was investigated against gram positive S. aureus and gram negative E. coli . RWMAX1 gels were found to possess both favorable physical and antimicrobial properties.