Supramolecular Hydrogels from a Tripeptide and Carbon Nano-Onions for Biological Applications
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Materials and General Methods
2.2. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
2.3. Infrared Spectroscopy
2.4. Raman Analysis
2.5. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
2.6. Oscillatory Rheology
2.7. HPLC and LC-MS
2.8. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
2.9. Pristine CNOs (p-CNOs) Preparation
2.10. Oxidized CNOs (Oxi-CNOs) Preparation
2.11. PEGylated CNOs (Amino-PEG-CNOs) Synthesis
2.12. L-Leu-D-Phe-D-Phe (Lff) Synthesis
2.13. Fmoc-Lff Synthesis
2.14. PEGylated Lff (Amino-PEG-Lff) Synthesis
2.15. Lff-PEG-CNOs (C-Terminus) Synthesis
2.16. Lff-PEG-CNOs (N-Terminus) Synthesis
2.17. Self-Assembly into Nanocomposite Hydrogels
2.18. Zeta (ζ) Potential Measurements
2.19. CNOs’ Release Study Form the Nanocomposite Hydrogels
2.20. Water-Drop Contact Angle Measurements
2.21. Live/Dead Cell Imaging Assay
2.22. MTT Metabolic Assay
2.23. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Design Strategies for the Nanocomposite Supramolecular Peptide Hydrogels with CNOs
- Non-covalent approach (i.e., by mixing oxi-CNOs and Lff);
- C-terminal covalent approach (i.e., covalently linking Lff through the C-terminus to the CNOs, and then mixing with free peptide for co-assembly);
- N-terminal covalent approach (i.e., covalently linking Lff through the N-terminus to the CNOs, and then mixing with free peptide for co-assembly).
3.2. Oxi-CNOs and Amino-PEG-CNOs Preparation and Characterization
3.3. Non-Covalent Approach
- The signal at 1037 cm−1 was shifted to 1034 cm−1 and it was attributed to the aromatic ring of Phe, being suggestive of hydrophobic interactions with oxi-CNOs
- The signal at 1207 cm−1 was shifted to 1201 cm−1 and it is in the amide III region, where signals coming from the combination of C-N stretching and N-H bending are found, suggesting differences in the H-bonding pattern due to oxi-CNOs
- The signal at 952 cm−1, relative to the vibrational mode of the peptide skeleton, was shifted to 948 cm−1, suggesting some difference in the peptide conformation upon interacting with oxi-CNOs
3.4. Covalent Approach (C-Terminus)
3.5. Covalent Approach (N-Terminus)
3.6. Nanocomposites’ Stability and Cytocompatibility for Biological Applications
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Marin, D.; Bartkowski, M.; Kralj, S.; Rosetti, B.; D’Andrea, P.; Adorinni, S.; Marchesan, S.; Giordani, S. Supramolecular Hydrogels from a Tripeptide and Carbon Nano-Onions for Biological Applications. Nanomaterials 2023, 13, 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010172
Marin D, Bartkowski M, Kralj S, Rosetti B, D’Andrea P, Adorinni S, Marchesan S, Giordani S. Supramolecular Hydrogels from a Tripeptide and Carbon Nano-Onions for Biological Applications. Nanomaterials. 2023; 13(1):172. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010172
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarin, Davide, Michał Bartkowski, Slavko Kralj, Beatrice Rosetti, Paola D’Andrea, Simone Adorinni, Silvia Marchesan, and Silvia Giordani. 2023. "Supramolecular Hydrogels from a Tripeptide and Carbon Nano-Onions for Biological Applications" Nanomaterials 13, no. 1: 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13010172