Supramolecular hydrogel (SM hydrogel) is a new kind of material appeared in the late 1990s. It has been demonstrated to have great potential in biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and controlled drug release. In this project, our research focused on using bio-macromolecules such as enzymes to form and regulate SM hydrogel, developing new SM hydrogel systems and new ways to generate SM hydrogel, in order to extend the research area of SM hydrogel and promote its practical applications. The main achievements of this project are n listed as follows.
We achieved, for the first time, the enzymatic formation of supramolecular hydrogels, thus relating the property changes of SM hydrogels and complex biological mechanisms together. Using such strategy, applications of SM hydrogels such as drug screening, inhibition of bacteria and cancer cells were implemented.
The hydrogelation of totally hydrophobic molecules were successfully achieved, which solved the problem that SM hydrogels are always unstable and sensitive to external stimuli. Using this strategy, we made several SM hydrogels with anti-caner drugs, which is a new drug delivery system named as ‘carrier free’ delivery system because the hydrogel is made by anti-cancer drugs only.
Several biocompatible approaches to generate SM hydrogels were developed, such as ‘surface-induced hydrogelation’, protein-peptide interaction and reduction cleavage, which offered new technologies for the biomedical applications of SM hydrogels.
In summary, during the development of this project, 49 peer-reviewed papers were published and cited 1548 times in all. Among them, 9 papers were published on top journals like Adv. Mater., J. Am. Chem. Soc. and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed, 7 papers were invited reviews or spot lights articles on journals like Acc. Chem. Res., Chem. Soc. Rev. and Adv. Mater. Project leaders were invited to give keynote lectures in more than ten international conferences. 12 graduates who have completed a Masters or PhD degree in the project. This project have promote the development of biomedical macromolecules greatly.