Synthesis of Self-Assembling Peptide-Based Hydrogels for Regenerative Medicine Using Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis

Abstract

Peptide self-assembly is an important field in biomaterials in which short peptides are designed to aggregate into nanostructures that often form hydrogels. These peptides are typically made using solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), a technique in which amino acids are added sequentially to a growing chain. This technique has been used to synthesize peptides with more than 100 amino acids. However, self-assembling peptides are designed to aggregate in solution, which often reduces coupling efficiency during synthesis and makes purification more difficult. Here, an outline of solid-phase peptide synthesis is provided, along with steps that can be used to improve the synthetic yield and purification of self-assembling peptides for regenerative medicine applications.