Issue 5, 2016

Enzyme–substrate interactions promote the self-assembly of amino acid derivatives into supramolecular hydrogels

Abstract

Enzyme-responsive supramolecular hydrogels are a new class of smart materials and have enormous potential to be used in biology and medicine. In this study, α-chymotrypsin was proposed to promote the self-assembly of amino acid derivatives for the preparation of such supramolecular hydrogels. It is found that α-chymotrypsin significantly shortens the gelation time from 8 days (or no gelation occurred within 2 weeks) to 10 min–4 h depending on the structure of amino acid derivatives. The chemical compositions and microstructures of the hydrogels were further investigated by LC-MS, microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. The results show that the transparent hydrogels consist of long nanofibers with approximately 20 nm in diameter. These nanofibers are composed of Fmoc-amino acid and amino acid, which were formed from the hydrolysis of amino acid ester, with a molar ratio of 4.346 : 1 (Fmoc-F/F) and 0.548 : 1 (Fmoc-F/Y), respectively. Furthermore, the molecular simulation was performed to investigate the specific recognition of α-chymotrypsin to amino acid derivatives. The results indicate that the enzyme–substrate interactions are responsible for promoting the supramolecular self-assembly of these amino acid derivatives into fibrous hydrogels. In addition to being the first example of enzyme–substrate interaction-promoted supramolecular self-assembly, this novel concept opens up the possibility of making use of various enzymes and their substrates (or analogues) in the discovery of new supramolecular materials with enzyme responsiveness.

Graphical abstract: Enzyme–substrate interactions promote the self-assembly of amino acid derivatives into supramolecular hydrogels

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Oct 2015
Accepted
28 Nov 2015
First published
30 Nov 2015

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2016,4, 844-851

Enzyme–substrate interactions promote the self-assembly of amino acid derivatives into supramolecular hydrogels

Y. Xie, R. Huang, W. Qi, Y. Wang, R. Su and Z. He, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2016, 4, 844 DOI: 10.1039/C5TB02149A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements