Peptide-Based Functional Biomaterials for Soft-Tissue Repair

Abstract

Synthetically derived peptide-based biomaterials are in many instances capable of mimicking the structure and function of their full-length endogenous counterparts. Combine this with the fact that short mimetic peptides are easier to produce when compared to full length proteins, show enhanced processability and ease of modification, and have the ability to be prepared under well-defined and controlled conditions; it becomes obvious why there has been a recent push to develop regenerative biomaterials from these molecules. There is increasing evidence that the incorporation of peptides within regenerative scaffolds can result in the generation of structural recognition motifs that can enhance cell attachment or induce cell signaling pathways, improving cell infiltration or promote a variety of other modulatory biochemical responses. By highlighting the current approaches in the design and application of short mimetic peptides, we hope to demonstrate their potential in soft-tissue healing while at the same time drawing attention to the advances made to date and the problems which need to be overcome to advance these materials to the clinic for applications in heart, skin, and cornea repair.

Keywords: biomaterials; functional materials; peptides; synthetic polymers; tissue engineering.

Scheme 1

Diagram summarizing the main concepts revised in this review for the use of peptide-based materials in tissue and organ repair.

Figure 1

Self-assembling angiogenic peptide hydrogel. (A) Schematic illustrating the structure of the the multi-domain peptide comprising the VEGF mimic QK sequence and its assembly into a β-sheet. (B) Visible macroscale vessels apparent within the explant materal 7 days post injection. (C) Massons's Trichrome and (D) HandE staining showing infiltration of scaffolds and presence of blood vessels with red blood cells [arrows] at 1 week post injection; scale bar 100 μm. Adapted with permission from Kumar et al. (2015). Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society.