Combinatorial functionalization with bisurea‐peptides and antifouling bisurea additives of a supramolecular elastomeric biomaterial

Abstract

The bioactive additive toolbox to functionalize supramolecular elastomeric materials expands rapidly. Here we have set an explorative step toward screening of complex combinatorial functionalization with antifouling and three peptide‐containing additives in a bisurea‐based supramolecular system. Thorough investigation of surface properties of thin films with contact angle measurements, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, was correlated to cell‐adhesion of endothelial and smooth muscle cells to apprehend their respective predictive values for functional biomaterial development. Peptides were presented at the surface alone, and in combinatorial functionalization with the oligo(ethylene glycol)‐based non‐cell adhesive additive. The bisurea‐RGD additive was cell‐adhesive in all conditions, whereas the endothelial cell‐specific bisurea‐REDV showed limited bioactive properties in all chemical nano‐environments. Also, aspecific functionality was observed for a bisurea‐SDF1α peptide. These results emphasize that special care should be taken in changing the chemical nano‐environment with peptide functionalization. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019, 57, 1725–1735

Effectiveness of cell adhesive additives in different supramolecular polymers

“…This research sheds light on the influence of the supramolecular additive and the polymer backbone on surface assembly of UPy‐ and BU‐fibers. Over the years supramolecular additive incorporation in polymers has been extensively studied; however, often both the polymer backbone, additive design, and additive end‐moiety were varied 25,29,51,52 . The effect of additive and backbone polymer could therefore for a long time not be decoupled to assess the influence nano‐scale assembly in supramolecular elastomeric polymer systems.…”

“…[20][21][22][23] The modular nature of the UPy-and BU-systems allows for effective additives to be incorporated into different supramolecular elastomeric biomaterials. 24,25 This enables the construction of biomaterial screening libraries. 25,26 However, the effectiveness of the additive transposition between different supramolecular polymer platforms has been sparsely researched.…”

Short self‐assembling peptides with a urea bond: A new type of supramolecular peptide hydrogel materials

“…A urea unit has been used for precise control of self‐assembly of macrocycle, [ 22 ] tunable organogel/hydrogel formation, [ 23,24 ] and functionalized biomaterials. [ 25 ] However, there is very few applications of the urea unit to the design of self‐assembling peptide composed of natural amino acids. Two ornithine residues (n = 0, (FFiO) 2 ) or lysine residues (n = 1, (FFiK) 2 ) were introduced at both ends via an isopeptide bond to display zwitterion units, because an amino acid framework can form intermolecular ion pairs.…”

“…A urea unit has been used for precise control of self-assembly of macrocycle, [22] tunable organogel/hydrogel formation, [23,24] and functionalized biomaterials. [25] However, there is very few applications of the urea unit to the design of self-assembling peptide composed of natural amino acids. Two ornithine residues (n = 0, (FFiO) 2 )…”

Impact of Additives on Mechanical Properties of Supramolecular Electrospun Scaffolds

“… 5 These two blocks have the tendency to phase-separate on the nanoscale, and in the case where the hard block is composed of well-defined hydrogen bonding units intriguingly forming fibrous hard segments. 6 , 7 Using molecular recognition of the specific hydrogen-bonding motifs in thermoplastic elastomers, supramolecular biomaterials can be functionalized by modular incorporation of additives, 8 − 10 to formulate materials with antifouling, 11 and specific cell-adhesive properties, 12 , 13 and with groups that allow for postfunctionalization. 14 The additive-containing material mixtures can be processed into functional scaffolds using electrospinning.…”