The excellent reversible elasticity, high-frequency responsiveness, and hydrophilic capacity of resilin and resilin-based materials have motivated investigations toward its use as a new class of bio-elastomers in the engineering of mechanically active tissues. We designed and synthesized multiple recombinant RLPs as a platform to create a collection of elastomeric, fatigue-resistant, and biologically-responsive hydrogels, with each polypeptide equipped with 12 repeats of the putative consensus region from D. melanogaster. The transient dynamic mechanical properties (e.g. stress relaxation and creep behavior), explored via oscillatory shear rheology and uniaxial tensile testing, suggest that the mechanical properties of these materials would be suitable to meet needs in the healing of vocal folds. Cell culture studies demonstrated that RLP-based hydrogels were able to support the spreading (2D) and encapsulation of hMSCs without compromising the desired mechanical properties. These RLP-based biomaterials exhibit promise in the engineering of vocal fold and other mechanically active tissues.

Tunable resilin-based hydrogels for vocal fold therapies

248th National Meeting (2014)

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