Abstract
Hybrid hydrogels of hydrophilic synthetic polymers cross-linked by protein modules undergo externally triggered volume transitions as a result of protein conformational changes. To investigate the influence of coiled-coil protein structure and stability on hydrogel volume transition, a series of block proteins containing interspersed naturally derived recombinant coiled-coils was synthesized. Proteins were characterized using circular dichroism, size exclusion chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and analytical ultracentrifugation. The block proteins formed self-associating oligomers and displayed thermal unfolding profiles indicative of a hierarchic higher-order structure. Hybrid hydrogels were assembled from an N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer and His-tagged block proteins through metal complexation. A temperature-induced decrease in hydrogel swelling was observed, and the onset temperature of the volume transition corresponded to the onset temperature of protein unfolding. We conclude that stimuli-responsive properties of hybrid hydrogels can be tailored by engineering the structure and properties of protein crosslinks.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 912-920 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Biomacromolecules |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 6 2001 |
| Externally published | Yes |