Issue 1, 2012

Self-assembled amino acids and dipeptides as noncovalent hydrogels for tissue engineering

Abstract

Noncovalent hydrogels derived from the self-assembly of peptides and proteins have demonstrated advantages over covalent hydrogels for three-dimensional cell scaffolding applications. There is growing interest in exploiting minimal, self-assembling dipeptides and amino acids as hydrogel networks that support cell culture applications, but significant questions persist concerning the mechanism of self-assembly and the relationship between the molecular structure of the assembled materials and their emergent viscoelastic and biochemical properties. This review will critically assess current progress in the use of minimal self-assembling peptides and functionalized amino acids to create hydrogels, with a focus on the challenges of understanding the structure and function of these materials and on the outlook for the use of these modular and dynamic materials as robust networks for tissue engineering.

Graphical abstract: Self-assembled amino acids and dipeptides as noncovalent hydrogels for tissue engineering

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
26 Jul 2011
Accepted
16 Sep 2011
First published
07 Oct 2011

Polym. Chem., 2012,3, 18-33

Self-assembled amino acids and dipeptides as noncovalent hydrogels for tissue engineering

D. M. Ryan and B. L. Nilsson, Polym. Chem., 2012, 3, 18 DOI: 10.1039/C1PY00335F

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