Our group studies soft, colloidal particles, known as microgels, for biotechnology applications including drug delivery, coatings for implants, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Microgels are crosslinked polymer networks, highly solvated with water, ranging in size from 100-1000 nm in diameter. The surface of microgels can be modified through the polymerization of a shell or by adsorbing polymers, as in layer-by-layer deposition. Separately or in conjunction with these techniques direct conjugation of peptides, proteins, or fluorophores can be carried out to further add functionality. Here we demonstrate the modification of microgels with a (RADA)16-I peptide shell, which self-assembles onto the surface of anionic microgels as β-sheet fibrils. The peptide itself serves as a modular component as non-native amino acids can be added to the peptide during synthesis, granting access to a wider array of functional groups for bioconjugation. Modified RADA peptides co-assemble on the particle surface, permitting multiple functionalities to be added simultaneously. We are currently exploring this construct for orthogonal conjugation reactions, and as a modular biosynthetic building block in extracellular matrix mimetics.

Modification of microgel surfaces with a self-assembling peptide

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.