Dopamine Self-Polymerization as a Simple and Powerful Tool to Modulate the Viscoelastic Mechanical Properties of Peptide-Based Gels.

ABSTRACT: Dopamine is a small versatile molecule used for various biotechnological and biomedical applications. This neurotransmitter, in addition to its biological role, can undergo oxidative self-polymerization to yield polydopamine, a robust universal coating material. Herein, we harness dopamine self-polymerization to modulate the viscoelastic mechanical properties of peptide-based gels, expanding their ever-growing application potential. By combining rapid peptide assembly with slower dopamine auto-polymerization, a double network gel is formed, where the fibrillar peptide gel network serves as a scaffold for polydopamine deposition, allowing polydopamine to interpenetrate the gel network as well as establishing crosslinks within the matrix. We have shown that triggering the assembly of a lysin

SUBMITTER: Fichman G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7961423 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature