Substance P Derived Extracellular Matrix Mimicking Peptide Hydrogel: A Cytocompatible Biomaterial Platform.

Self-Assembled short peptide-based hydrogel platform has become widely applicable biomedical therapeutic maneuver for their soft, tunable architecture which can influence cellular behavior and morphology to an inordinate extent. Here in this work, a short supramolecular hydrogelator peptide has been designed using a fusion approach: from the C-terminus conserved "FFGLM" section of biologically abundant neuropeptide: Substance P. In addition to this to incorporate a good hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance, the truncated pentapeptide segment was further C-terminally modified by the incorporation of an integrin-binding "RGD" motif. This octapeptide ensemble "FFGLMRGD" by virtue of its N-terminus Fmoc group undergoes rapid self-assembly to give rise to an injectable, pH responsive, hydrogel-based self-supporting platform which exhibited good cytocompatibility to the cultured mammalian cells both in 2D as well as 3D culture condition without exerting any potent cytotoxic effect in LIVE/DEAD experiment. The rheological experiment demonstrated its hydrogel-like mechanical properties including thixotropicity. The atomic force microscopic as well as FESEM image of the fabricated hydrogel shows a tangled fibrous surface topography owing to the presence of N-terminus Fmoc-FF residue within the sequence of the designed peptide. Further scratch assay performed on fibroblast cell lines confirmed the wound-ameliorating potency of this designed hydrogel which substantiates its future therapeutic prospects.