Macromolecular diffusion and release from self-assembled beta-hairpin peptide hydrogels.

ABSTRACT: Self-assembling peptide hydrogels are used to directly encapsulate and controllably release model FITC-dextran macromolecules of varying size and hydrodynamic diameters. MAX1 and MAX8 are two peptide sequences with different charge states that have been designed to intramolecularly fold and self assemble into hydrogels at physiological buffer conditions (pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl). When self-assembly is initiated in the presence of dextran or protein probes, these macromolecules are directly encapsulated in the gel. Self-diffusion studies using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and bulk release studies indicate that macromolecule mobility within, and release out of, these gels can be modulated by varying the hydrogel mesh size. The average mesh size can be modulated by simply var

SUBMITTER: Branco MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2642624 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature