Thermoresponsive Hydrogels Based on Elastin Like Peptides

Elastin-like peptides (ELPs) are molecules that have been used to confer thermos-responsive characteristics onto various materials, however to this point mostly linear ELPs have been studied. Dendritic and other highly branched structures are of importance in biomaterials since their topological features may lead to useful properties, including substantially improved resistance to proteolysis of branched peptides compared to linear ones. Here we present a systematic investigation of a class of dendritic ELPs as potential building blocks for thermo-responsive polysaccharide hydrogels. The effect of peptide-dendrimer topology on the ELP’s transition temperature (Tt) in solution was examined using CD to study the peptide secondary structure transition, SAXS and TEM to characterize the nanoscale changes and turbidity to measure the macroscopic phase transition. Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels were formed by utilizing the ELP dendrimers as cross-linkers using carbodiimide chemistery. The effect of the ELP dendrimer’s characteristics on  the hydrogel’s  release profiles and mechanical properties was examined.