Murine gut microbiota dysbiosis via enteric infection modulates the foreign body response to a distal biomaterial implant.

Unlabelled: The gut microbiota influences systemic immunity and the function of distal tissues, including the brain, liver, skin, lung, and muscle. However, the role of the gut microbiota in the foreign body response (FBR) and fibrosis around medical implants is largely unexplored. To investigate this connection, we perturbed the homeostasis of the murine gut microbiota via enterotoxigenic (ETBF) infection and implanted the synthetic polymer polycaprolactone (PCL) into a distal muscle injury.

Effects of Cell-Adhesive Ligand Presentation on Pentapeptide Supramolecular Assembly and Gelation: Simulations and Experiments.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex, hierarchical material containing structural and bioactive components. This complexity makes decoupling the effects of biomechanical properties and cell-matrix interactions difficult, especially when studying cellular processes in a 3D environment. Matrix mechanics and cell adhesion are both known regulators of specific cellular processes such as stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

Peptide Stereocomplexation Orchestrates Supramolecular Assembly of Hydrogel Biomaterials.

Stereocomplexation, or specific interactions among complementary stereoregular macromolecules, is burgeoning as an increasingly impactful design tool, exerting exquisite control of material structure and properties. Since stereocomplexation of polymers produces remarkable transformations in mechanics, morphology, and degradation, we sought to leverage stereocomplexation to tune these properties in peptide-based biomaterials. We found that blending the pentapeptides l- and d-KYFIL triggers dual mechanical and morphological transformations from stiff fibrous hydrogels into less stiff networks of plates, starkly contrasting prior reports that blending l- and d-peptides produces stiffer fibrous hydrogels than the individual constituents.

Biomaterials via peptide assembly: Design, characterization, and application in tissue engineering.

A core challenge in biomaterials, with both fundamental significance and technological relevance, concerns the rational design of bioactive microenvironments. Designed properly, peptides can undergo supramolecular assembly into dynamic, physical hydrogels that mimic the mechanical, topological, and biochemical features of native tissue microenvironments. The relatively facile, inexpensive, and automatable preparation of peptides, coupled with low batch-to-batch variability, motivates the expanded use of assembling peptide hydrogels for biomedical applications.

Rapidly Assembling Pentapeptides for Injectable Delivery (RAPID) Hydrogels as Cytoprotective Cell Carriers.

Low cell survival after syringe injection hampers the success of preclinical and clinical cell transplantation trials. During syringe injection, cells experience mechanical forces that lead to cell-membrane disruption and decreased viability. To improve cell survival, we designed rapidly assembling pentapeptides for injectable delivery (RAPID) hydrogels that shear-thin, protect cells from extensional flow, form fibers, and provide mechanical properties similar to native tissue.