Thermally Reversible Gel-Sol Transition of Hydrogels via Dissociation and Association of an Artificial Protein Nanocage

Biomacromolecules. 2024 Mar 6. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c01285. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOligomeric protein nanocages often disassemble into their subunits and reassemble by external stimuli. Thus, using these nanocages as cross-linkers for hydrogel network structures is a promising approach to allow hydrogels to undergo stimuli-responsive gel-sol transitions or self-healing. Here, we report hydrogels that show a reversible gel-sol transition resulting from the heat-induced dissociation and reassociation of protein nanocages. The hydrogel contained the 60-mer artificial protein nanocage, TIP60, as a supramolecular cross-linker for polyethylene glycol network structures. The hydrogel showed a gel-to-sol transition upon heating at a temperature above the melting point of TIP60 and immediately returned to a gel state upon cooling to room temperature. During the heating and cooling treatment of the hydrogel, small-angle X-ray scattering analysis suggested the dissociation and reassociation of TIP60. Furthermore, we demonstrated redox-responsive cargo release from TIP60 in the hydrogel. These results showed the potential of TIP60 as a component of multi-stimuli-responsive hydrogels.PMID:38445465 | DOI:10.1021/acs.biomac.3c01285
Source: Biomacromolecules - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Source Type: research