Peptide conjugate hydrogelators

Dave J. Adams, Paul D. Topham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Molecular gelators are currently receiving a great deal of attention. These are small molecules which, under the appropriate conditions, assemble in solution to, in the majority of cases, give long fibrillar structures which entangle to form a three-dimensional network. This immobilises the solvent, resulting in a gel. Such gelators have potential application in a number of important areas from drug delivery to tissue engineering. Recently, the use of peptide-conjugates has become prevalent with oligopeptides (from as short as two amino acids in length) conjugated to a polymer, alkyl chain or aromatic group such as naphthalene or fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) being shown to be effective molecular gelators. The field of gelation is extremely large; here we focus our attention on the use of these peptide-conjugates as molecular hydrogelators.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3707-3721
Number of pages15
JournalSoft matter
Volume6
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Apr 2010

Bibliographical note

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010

Keywords

  • molecular gelators
  • molecules
  • drug delivery
  • tissue engineering
  • peptide-conjugates
  • oligopeptides

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