Affinity‐Triggered Assemblies Based on a Designed Peptide–Peptide Affinity Pair

Affinity‐triggered assemblies rely on affinity interactions as the driving force to assemble physically crosslinked networks. WW domains are small hydrophobic proteins binding to proline‐rich peptides that are typically produced in the insoluble form. Previous works attempted the biological producti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biotechnology journal 2019-11, Vol.14 (11), p.e1800559-n/a
Main Authors: Fernandes, Cláudia S. M., Pina, Ana S., Moura Barbosa, Arménio J., Padrão, Inês, Duarte, Filipa, Teixeira, Cátia A. S., Alves, Vítor, Gomes, Paula, Fernandes, Tiago G., Carvalho Dias, Ana M. G., Roque, Ana C. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
affinity interactions
Biocompatible Materials
Culture Media
Hydrogels - chemistry
Ligands
Peptides - chemistry
physical hydrogels
Proline - chemistry
Proline-Rich Protein Domains
Protein Binding
protein materials
Rheology
self‐assembly
WW Domains
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Summary:Affinity‐triggered assemblies rely on affinity interactions as the driving force to assemble physically crosslinked networks. WW domains are small hydrophobic proteins binding to proline‐rich peptides that are typically produced in the insoluble form. Previous works attempted the biological production of the full WW domain in tandem to generate multivalent components for affinity‐triggered hydrogels. In this work, an alternative approach is followed by engineering a 13‐mer minimal version of the WW domain that retains the ability to bind to target proline‐rich peptides. Both ligand and target peptides are produced chemically and conjugated to multivalent polyethylene glycol, yielding two components. Upon mixing together, they form soft biocompatible affinity‐triggered assemblies, stable in stem cell culture media, and display mechanical properties in the same order of magnitude as for those hydrogels formed with the full WW protein in tandem. WW domains bind to proline‐rich peptides. A small WW peptide is engineered as a minimal version of a full WW domain. The small ligand and the cognate target are conjugated to multivalent polyethylene glycol, generating two components that upon mixing yield a biocompatible hydrogel.
ISSN:1860-6768
1860-7314
DOI:10.1002/biot.201800559