Design peptide scaffolds for regenerative medicine.

Regenerative and reparative medicine require two key complementary ingredients: the biological scaffolds and stem cells, both embryonic and adult stem cells. Designs of new scaffolds at the molecular level have become increasingly important for such an endeavor. New technology through molecular self-assembly as a fabrication tool will become integral part of new medicine in the coming years. We are inspired from nature through understanding the molecular self-assembly phenomena. Self-assembly phenomena are ubiquitous in nature. The two basic elements in molecular self-assembly are chemical complementarity and structural compatibility, through weak and noncovalent interactions. We have defined the path to understand these principles. Several self-assembling peptide systems have been developed for regenerative medicine including “molecular Lego” forming a nanofiber scaffold hydrogel. “molecular carpet” for surface biological engineering; and peptide nanotubes and nanovesicles, or “molecular capsule” for protein and gene deliveries. These self-assembling peptide systems are simple, versatile and easy to produce for large scale. These self-assembly peptide systems represent a significant advance in the molecular engineering of scaffolds for regenerative medicine.

[1]  G M Whitesides,et al.  Biological surface engineering: a simple system for cell pattern formation. , 1999, Biomaterials.

[2]  A. J. Grodzinsky,et al.  Self-assembling peptide hydrogel fosters chondrocyte extracellular matrix production and cell division: Implications for cartilage tissue repair , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  J. Schnur,et al.  Lipid Tubules: A Paradigm for Molecularly Engineered Structures , 1993, Science.

[4]  Shuguang Zhang,et al.  Molecular self-assembly of surfactant-like peptides to form nanotubes and nanovesicles , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  R. Kamm,et al.  Supramolecular structure of helical ribbons self-assembled from a β-sheet peptide , 2003 .

[6]  Shuguang Zhang,et al.  Positively Charged Surfactant-like Peptides Self-assemble into Nanostructures , 2003 .

[7]  Roger D Kamm,et al.  Control of self-assembling oligopeptide matrix formation through systematic variation of amino acid sequence. , 2002, Biomaterials.

[8]  C. Semino.  Can We Build Artificial Stem Cell Compartments? , 2003, Journal of biomedicine & biotechnology.

[9]  J. J. Schwartz,et al.  Peptide-mediated cellular delivery. , 2000, Current opinion in molecular therapeutics.

[10]  D. Lauffenburger,et al.  Left-Handed Helical Ribbon Intermediates in the Self-Assembly of a β-Sheet Peptide , 2002 .

[11]  S. Zhang.  Molecular Self-assembly , 2001 .

[12]  R D Kamm,et al.  Mechanical properties of a self-assembling oligopeptide matrix. , 1998, Journal of biomaterials science. Polymer edition.

[13]  A. Rich,et al.  Self-complementary oligopeptide matrices support mammalian cell attachment. , 1995, Biomaterials.

[14]  Wonmuk Hwang,et al.  Self-assembly of Surfactant-like Peptides with Variable Glycine Tails to Form Nanotubes and Nanovesicles , 2002 .

[15]  A. Rich,et al.  Spontaneous assembly of a self-complementary oligopeptide to form a stable macroscopic membrane. , 1993, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  Shuguang Zhang,et al.  Emerging biological materials through molecular self-assembly. , 2002, Biotechnology advances.

[17]  R D Kamm,et al.  Self-assembly of a beta-sheet protein governed by relief of electrostatic repulsion relative to van der Waals attraction. , 2000, Biomacromolecules.

[18]  Roger D Kamm,et al.  Effects of systematic variation of amino acid sequence on the mechanical properties of a self-assembling, oligopeptide biomaterial , 2002, Journal of biomaterials science. Polymer edition.

[19]  A. Rich,et al.  Extensive neurite outgrowth and active synapse formation on self-assembling peptide scaffolds. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[20]  Carlos E Semino,et al.  Functional differentiation of hepatocyte-like spheroid structures from putative liver progenitor cells in three-dimensional peptide scaffolds. , 2003, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[21]  Shuguang Zhang,et al.  Structures, function and applications of amphiphilic peptides , 2002 .

[22]  Wonmuk Hwang,et al.  Design of nanostructured biological materials through self-assembly of peptides and proteins. , 2002, Current opinion in chemical biology.

[23]  Michael D. Altman,et al.  Peptide self-assembly in functional polymer science and engineering , 1999 .

[24]  A. Rich,et al.  Zuotin, a putative Z‐DNA binding protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. , 1992, The EMBO journal.

[25]  A. Rich,et al.  Unusually stable β‐sheet formation in an ionic self‐complementary oligopeptide , 1994 .