Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Asai, D; Xu, D; Liu, W; Garcia Quiroz, F; Callahan, DJ; Zalutsky, MR; Craig, SL; Chilkoti, A
Published in: Biomaterials
July 2012

Protein-based biomaterials are an important class of materials for applications in biotechnology and medicine. The exquisite control of their composition, stereochemistry, and chain length offers unique opportunities to engineer biofunctionality, biocompatibility, and biodegradability into these materials. Here, we report the synthesis of a thermally responsive peptide polymer-based hydrogel composed of a recombinant elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) that rapidly forms a reversibly cross-linked hydrogel by the formation of intermolecular disulfide cross-links. To do so, we designed and synthesized ELPs that incorporate periodic cysteine residues (cELPs), and show that cELPs are thermally responsive protein polymers that display rapid gelation under physiologically relevant, mild oxidative conditions. Gelation of cELPs, at concentrations as low as 2.5 wt%, occurs in ≈ 2.5 min upon addition a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide (0.3 wt%). We show the utility of these hydrogels for the sustained release of a model protein in vitro, and demonstrate the ability of this injectable biomaterial to pervade tumors to maximize tumor coverage and retention time upon intratumoral injection. cELPs represent a new class of injectable reversibly cross-linked hydrogels with properties intermediate between ELP coacervates and chemically cross-linked ELP hydrogels that will find useful applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Biomaterials

DOI

EISSN

1878-5905

Publication Date

July 2012

Volume

33

Issue

21

Start / End Page

5451 / 5458

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • Temperature
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine
  • Rheology
  • Polymers
  • Peptides
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Hydrogels
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Asai, D., Xu, D., Liu, W., Garcia Quiroz, F., Callahan, D. J., Zalutsky, M. R., … Chilkoti, A. (2012). Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation. Biomaterials, 33(21), 5451–5458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.03.083
Asai, Daisuke, Donghua Xu, Wenge Liu, Felipe Garcia Quiroz, Daniel J. Callahan, Michael R. Zalutsky, Stephen L. Craig, and Ashutosh Chilkoti. “Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation.Biomaterials 33, no. 21 (July 2012): 5451–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.03.083.
Asai D, Xu D, Liu W, Garcia Quiroz F, Callahan DJ, Zalutsky MR, et al. Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation. Biomaterials. 2012 Jul;33(21):5451–8.
Asai, Daisuke, et al. “Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation.Biomaterials, vol. 33, no. 21, July 2012, pp. 5451–58. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.03.083.
Asai D, Xu D, Liu W, Garcia Quiroz F, Callahan DJ, Zalutsky MR, Craig SL, Chilkoti A. Protein polymer hydrogels by in situ, rapid and reversible self-gelation. Biomaterials. 2012 Jul;33(21):5451–5458.
Journal cover image

Published In

Biomaterials

DOI

EISSN

1878-5905

Publication Date

July 2012

Volume

33

Issue

21

Start / End Page

5451 / 5458

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • Temperature
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine
  • Rheology
  • Polymers
  • Peptides
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Hydrogels