Browsing by Subject "Peptide-amphiphile"

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    Self-assembly of fibronectin mimetic peptide-amphiphile nanofibers.
    (2010-06) Rexeisen, Emilie Lynn
    Many therapeutic strategies incorporate peptides into their designs to mimic the natural protein ligands found in vivo. A few examples are the short peptide sequences RGD and PHSRN that mimic the primary and synergy-binding domains of the extracellular matrix protein, fibronectin, which is recognized by the cell surface receptor, α5β1 integrin. Even though scaffold modification with biomimetic peptides remains one of the most promising approaches for tissue engineering, the use of these peptides in therapeutic tissue-engineered products and drug delivery systems available on the commercial market is limited because the peptides are not easily able to mimic the natural protein. The design of a peptide that can effectively target the α5β1 integrin would greatly increase biomimetic scaffold therapeutic potential. A novel peptide containing both the RGD primary binding domain and PHSRN synergy-binding domain for fibronectin joined with the appropriate linker should bind α5β1 integrin more efficiently and lead to greater cell adhesion over RGD alone. Several fibronectin mimetic peptides were designed and coupled to dialkyl hydrocarbon tails to make peptide-amphiphiles. The peptides contained different linkers connecting the two binding domains and different spacers separating the hydrophobic tails from the hydrophilic headgroups. The peptide-amphiphiles were deposited on mica substrates using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Langmuir isotherms indicated that the peptide-amphiphiles that contained higher numbers of serine residues formed a more tightly packed monolayer, but the increased number of serines also made transferring the amphiphiles to the mica substrate more difficult. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the bilayers showed that the headgroups might be bent, forming small divots in the surface. These divots may help expose the PHSRN synergy-binding domain. Parallel studies undertaken by fellow group members showed that human umbilical vein endothelial cells and α5β1 integrins immobilized on an AFM tip preferred binding to a fibronectin mimetic peptide that contained both hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues in the linker and a medium length spacer. Most cells require a three-dimensional scaffold in order to thrive. To incorporate the fibronectin mimetic peptide into a three-dimensional structure, a single hydrocarbon tail was attached to form a peptideamphiphile. Single-tailed peptide-amphiphiles have been shown to form nanofibers in solution and gel after screening of the electrostatic charges in the headgroup. These gels show promise as scaffolds for tissue engineering. A fibronectin mimetic peptide-amphiphile containing a linker with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues was designed to form nanofibers in solution. The critical micelle concentration of the peptide-amphiphile was determined to be 38 μM, and all subsequent experiments were performed above this concentration. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy indicated that the peptide headgroup of the peptide-amphiphile forms an α+β secondary structure; whereas, the free peptide forms a random secondary structure. Cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and small angle neutron scattering showed that the peptide-amphiphile self-assembled into nanofibers. The cryo-TEM images showed single nanofibers with a diameter of 10 nm and lengths on the order of microns. Images of higher peptideamphiphile concentrations showed evidence of bundling between individual nanofibers, which could give rise to gelation behavior at higher concentrations. The peptide-amphiphile formed a gel at concentrations above 6 mM. A 10 mM sample was analyzed with oscillating plate rheometry and was found to have an elastic modulus within the range of living tissue, showing potential as a possible scaffold for tissue engineering.