This technology is an engineered beta roll peptide domain that can cross-link in the presence of calcium, allowing for allosterically-controlled protein hydrogel formation.
Hydrogels are hydrophilic, three-dimensional polymer networks capable of holding large amounts of water while maintaining their structure. Although hydrogels may contain a large amount of liquid by weight, they possess many physical properties of solids due to cross-linking that occurs within the polymer network. Self-assembling hydrogels are highly versatile materials with applications in biosensors, chemical catalysis, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Even though hydrogels have many potential applications, they are still limited by the fact that they cannot be controlled or regulated without having to account for additional elements in the hydrogel, including other proteins or enzymes.
This technology utilizes the induced folding of an engineered protein to trigger cross-linking and hydrogel formation. The addition of leucine side chains, followed by the addition of calcium, to the protein network allows for allosteric regulation of cross-linking. This form of allosteric regulation is also reversible so that the removal of calcium will induce a conformational change back to the liquid peptide state. Additionally, the organic nature of both the polypeptide matrix and the regulatory compound ensure biocompatibility for safe use in humans in many applications including tissue engineering and bioelectrocatalysis.
The viability and reversibility of this reaction have been confirmed using an optical absorption technique called circular dichroism.
IR CU12126
Licensing Contact: Satish Rao
