Peptides are the building blocks of nature, with varying sequences and structures resulting in complex shapes, scaffolds, and chemical properties with customizable functions. A variety of peptide materials are developed to achieve certain special functions, such as the creation of specific secondary structures (e.g., α-helices, β-turns, β-sheets) or biocompatible surfaces with predetermined properties.
Peptides also play a key role in the generation of hybrid materials, such as peptide-inorganic biomineralization systems and peptide-polymer conjugates, producing smart materials for imaging, bioelectronics, biosensing, and molecular recognition applications.
Our high-throughput peptidomimetic development platform, PepDomTM, is dedicated to developing a variety of peptidomimetics with special structures or imparting special functions to peptides through unique modification techniques to develop peptide-based biomaterials or hybrid materials, which will be applied in all aspects of biochemistry, medicine, industrial production, etc.
Application of Peptidomimetics in Materials Science
Peptides can mimic the mechanical, topological, and biochemical characteristics of the natural tissue microenvironment through supramolecular assembly, and synthesize materials that are widely used in the field of biomedicine.
Materials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Peptide materials based on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to promote cell adhesion and proliferation in three-dimensional networks by mimicking the extracellular matrix (ECM). They must exhibit viscoelastic properties capable of forming a hydrogel network that physically supports cells and biochemical properties that allow cells to adhere to the network. For example, self-assembled β-sheet peptides have been used as very efficient ECM mimetic materials.
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of self-assembling peptides. (Distaffen, et al., 2021)
Materials for Vaccines and Immunomodulatory
Subunit vaccines use only antigenic fragments of the pathogen and are often poorly immunogenic. Therefore, there is a need to develop materials that can properly stimulate the immune system without adverse side effects. Peptidomimetic materials with various morphologies, including peptide nanofibers and peptide nanoparticles, have become important tools for the development of subunit vaccines due to their small size, which can drain to antigen-presenting cells and induce adaptive immune responses.
Fig. 2 Peptide-functionalized nanoparticles. (Forest, et al., 2020)
Materials for Antimicrobial Agents
Multivalent supramolecular peptide materials can also be used as antibacterial agents for inhibiting bacterial growth. High densities of positive charges on supramolecular peptide materials are typically obtained by attaching multiple lysine residues to peptide self-assembly sequences. The effectiveness of attaching triple lysine sequences to amphiphilic self-assembling peptides (NAVISQKKK) to form antimicrobial hydrogels that are non-cytotoxic to mammalian cells has been reported.
Fig. 3 Antibacterial hydrogel. (Yan, et al., 2021)
Materials for Drug Delivery
Functionalized peptide materials can also be used for local delivery of various therapeutic agents. Traditional systemic drug delivery methods often result in unnecessary off-target toxicity. Peptide materials can be used as biocompatible controlled drug delivery systems to reduce dosage. Therefore, supramolecular peptide systems with multivalent display motifs can target delivery sites or selectively activate drug release. Several self-assembling peptide systems have been reported as carriers to deliver drugs or drug-peptide conjugates.
Fig. 4 Schematic illustration of the delivery vehicles and the varying degrees of cellular and nuclear uptake and delivery. (Distaffen, et al., 2021)
Materials for Hemostasis Regulation
Peptide materials have also been investigated as hemostatic agents in the setting of incompressible bleeding. Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are modified to display RTL, a tissue factor (TF) targeting peptide capable of initiating the coagulation cascade. Self-assembly of RTL-PAs produced nanofibers that localized around injury sites and reduced blood loss, demonstrating the effectiveness of these PAs as materials for wound healing.
Fig. 5 Schematic of preparation procedures of chitosan/tilapia peptides microspheres and the S-CS/TPM sponge. (Ouyang, et al., 2019)
CD BioSciences is committed to the development of high-throughput peptidomimetics, which are widely used in the field of materials science. If you have any application or service you want to know about, please do not hesitate to contact us immediately for the best advice and solutions.
References
- Distaffen, H. E., Jones, C. W., Abraham, B. L., & Nilsson, B. L. (2021). Multivalent display of chemical signals on self‐assembled peptide scaffolds. Peptide Science, 113(2).
- Forest, C. R., Silva, C. A. C., & Thordarson, P. (2020). Dual‐peptide functionalized nanoparticles for therapeutic use. Peptide Science, e24205.
- Munro, C. J., & Knecht, M. R. (2018). Applications and advancements of peptides in the design of metallic nanomaterials. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 12, 63–68.
- Yan, Y., Li, Y., Zhang, Z., Wang, X., Niu, Y., Zhang, S., … Ren, C. (2021). Advances of peptides for antibacterial applications. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 202, 111682.
- Ouyang, Q., Hou, T., Li, C., Hu, Z., Liang, L., Li, S., Li, P. (2019). Construction of a composite sponge containing tilapia peptides and chitosan with improved hemostatic performance. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 139, 719-729.
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