Chirality can be used as a design tool to control the mechanical rigidity as well as material degradation of hydrogels formed from self-assembling peptides. Hydrogels prepared from enantiomeric mixtures of self-assembling �-hairpins show a non-additive, synergistic, enhancement in material rigidity compared to gels prepared from either pure enantiomer, with the racemic hydrogel showing the greatest effect.  The molecular basis for this increase in rigidity has been investigated using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.  Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies of the racemic gel revealed fibrillar networks with fibril heights and widths corresponding to the expected dimensions of a fiber composed of a bilayer of assembled hairpins.  Additional isotope edited infrared spectroscopy studies provide insight into the molecular arrangement of enantiomers in the self-assembled state.  Furthermore, rates of hydrogel degradation by trypsin can be controlled by varying the molar stoichiometry of enantiomers in the hydrogel formulation.

Enhanced mechanical rigidity of hydrogels formed from enantiomeric peptide assemblies

244th National Meeting (2012)

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