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高等学校化学研究 ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 962-969.doi: 10.1007/s40242-020-9100-y

• Articles • 上一篇    下一篇

Strong and Injectable Hydrogels Based on Multivalent Metal Ion-Peptide Cross-linking

YU Wenting1,2, XUE Bin1,2, ZHU Zhenshu1, SHEN Ziqin3, QIN Meng1, WANG Wei1, CAO Yi1,2   

  1. 1. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China;
    2. Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518057, P. R. China;
    3. International Center, Nanjing Foreign Language School, Nanjing 210000, P. R. China
  • 收稿日期:2019-12-17 修回日期:2020-01-09 出版日期:2020-10-01 发布日期:2020-10-01
  • 通讯作者: WANG Wei, XUE Bin E-mail:wangwei@nju.edu.cn;xuebinnju@nju.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.11804148, 1193400, 11674153, 81622033, 21774057), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China(No.BK20180320), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China(Nos.020414380080, 020414380118), the Basic Research Project of Science and Technology Plan of Shenzhen, China(No.JCYJ20170818110643669).

Strong and Injectable Hydrogels Based on Multivalent Metal Ion-Peptide Cross-linking

YU Wenting1,2, XUE Bin1,2, ZHU Zhenshu1, SHEN Ziqin3, QIN Meng1, WANG Wei1, CAO Yi1,2   

  1. 1. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China;
    2. Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518057, P. R. China;
    3. International Center, Nanjing Foreign Language School, Nanjing 210000, P. R. China
  • Received:2019-12-17 Revised:2020-01-09 Online:2020-10-01 Published:2020-10-01
  • Contact: WANG Wei, XUE Bin E-mail:wangwei@nju.edu.cn;xuebinnju@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.11804148, 1193400, 11674153, 81622033, 21774057), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China(No.BK20180320), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China(Nos.020414380080, 020414380118), the Basic Research Project of Science and Technology Plan of Shenzhen, China(No.JCYJ20170818110643669).

摘要： Injectable hydrogels are ideal biomaterials for delivering cells, growth factors and drugs specifically to localized lesions and subsequent controlled release. Many factors can affect the efficacy of injectable hydrogels. To avoid potential damage to encapsulated cells or drugs, injectable hydrogels should be highly dynamic so that they can undergo shear-thinning at low strain rates and rapidly reform after injection. However, dynamic hydrogels are often mechanically weak, leading to the leakage of encapsulated cells or drugs. Here we demonstrated a convenient method to improve the mechanical strength without jeopardizing the dynamic properties of hydrogels by using metal ion-peptide crosslinkers containing multiple metal ion-ligand bonds. We showed that the dynamic properties of the hydrogels correlated with the intrinsic dynamics of the metal-ligand bonds and were not affected by the formation of multivalent binding. Yet, the mechanical stability of the hydrogels was significantly improved due to the increased thermodynamic stability of the crosslinkers. We further showed that the drug release rates were slowed down by the formation of multivalent crosslinkers. Our results highlight the importance of ligand valency to the mechanical response of hydrogels and provide a universal route to rationally tune the dynamic and mechanical properties of injectable hydrogels.

关键词: Peptide-ion coordination, Ligand cooperativity, Injectable hydrogel, Mechanical response

Abstract: Injectable hydrogels are ideal biomaterials for delivering cells, growth factors and drugs specifically to localized lesions and subsequent controlled release. Many factors can affect the efficacy of injectable hydrogels. To avoid potential damage to encapsulated cells or drugs, injectable hydrogels should be highly dynamic so that they can undergo shear-thinning at low strain rates and rapidly reform after injection. However, dynamic hydrogels are often mechanically weak, leading to the leakage of encapsulated cells or drugs. Here we demonstrated a convenient method to improve the mechanical strength without jeopardizing the dynamic properties of hydrogels by using metal ion-peptide crosslinkers containing multiple metal ion-ligand bonds. We showed that the dynamic properties of the hydrogels correlated with the intrinsic dynamics of the metal-ligand bonds and were not affected by the formation of multivalent binding. Yet, the mechanical stability of the hydrogels was significantly improved due to the increased thermodynamic stability of the crosslinkers. We further showed that the drug release rates were slowed down by the formation of multivalent crosslinkers. Our results highlight the importance of ligand valency to the mechanical response of hydrogels and provide a universal route to rationally tune the dynamic and mechanical properties of injectable hydrogels.

Key words: Peptide-ion coordination, Ligand cooperativity, Injectable hydrogel, Mechanical response