Applications of self-assembling peptide scaffolds in regenerative medicine: the way to the clinic

Abstract

Peptides that self-assemble into well-defined nanofibrous networks provide a prominent alternative to traditional biomaterials for fabricating scaffolds for use in regenerative medicine and other biomedical applications. Such scaffolds can be generated by decorating a peptide backbone with other bioactives such as cell specific adhesion peptides, growth factors and enzyme cleavable sequences. They can be designed to mimic the three-dimensional (3D) structural features of native ECM and can therefore also provide insight into the ECM–cell interactions needed for development of scaffolds that can serve as regeneration templates for specific target tissues or organs. This review highlights the potential application of self-assembling peptides in regenerative medicine.