Nanofibrous polypeptide hydrogels with collagen-like structure as biomimetic extracellular matrix

Abstract Supramolecular peptides exhibit obvious similarities with collagen fibers in terms of self-assembly characteristics, nanofibrous structure, and responsiveness to external stimuli. Here, a series of supramolecular peptides were developed by altering the amino acid sequence, enabling the self-assembly of three types of 4-biphenylacetic acid (BPAA)-tripeptides into fibrous hydrogel through hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking under the influence of ion induction. Transmission electron and scanning electron microscopies revealed that the diameter of the fiber within nanofibrous hydrogels was ~ 10 and ~ 40 nm, respectively, which was similar with the self-assembled collagen fibers. For this reason, these hydrogels could be considered as a biomimetic extracellular substitute. Meanwhile, the gelation concentration induced by ions was even lower than 0.66 wt%, with an elastic modulus of ~ 0.27 kPa, corresponding to a water content of 99.34 wt%. In addition, the three supramolecular hydrogels were found to be good substrates for L929 cell adhesion and MC-3T3 cell proliferation. The overall results implied that BPAA-based hydrogels have a lucrative application potential as cell carriers. Graphical Abstract