Fabrication of stimuli triggered polypeptide-based hybrid biomaterials for biomedical application

Materials triggered by stimuli including temperature, pH, electric fields, and specific molecular interactions have attracted considerable attention in the biomedical fields since they can induce structural changes by themselves. This chapter aims to provide an overview of stimuli-triggered polypeptide-based hybrid hydrogels in which two components, peptides and proteins, are structural elements of the polymer network. The chapter begins by considering hydrogels derived from naturally occurring structural proteins, followed by all-protein and peptide-based synthetic systems. Next, hybrid hydrogels composed of synthetic polymeric and peptide structural elements are discussed. The synergistic combination of two types of structures may produce new materials that possess unprecedented levels of structural organization and novel properties. The combination of synthetic polymers and peptide or protein segments into self-assembled hybrid materials provides an opportunity to combine and superimpose the properties of the component molecules. These materials are playing an increasingly important part in a diverse range of applications, such as drug delivery, diagnostics, tissue engineering, and smart optical systems, as well as in biosensors, microelectromechanical systems, coatings, and textiles. We review recent advances and challenges in the use of stimuli-responsive polymeric materials that are self-assembled from nanostructured building blocks. The potential of these hydrogels is illustrated with applications that are mainly derived from the field of tissue engineering.