View Article Online / Journal Homepage / Table of Contents for this issue REVIEW www.rsc.org/softmatter | Soft Matter Peptide-based stimuli-responsive biomaterials Robert J. Mart,a Rachel D. Osborne,b Molly M. Stevens*b and Rein V. Ulijn*a Received 31st May 2006, Accepted 31st July 2006 First published as an Advance Article on the web 25th August 2006 DOI: 10.1039/b607706d This article explores recent advances in the design and engineering of materials wholly or principally constructed from peptides. We focus on materials that are able to respond to changes in their environment (pH, ionic strength, temperature, light, oxidation/reduction state, presence of small molecules or the catalytic activity of enzymes) by altering their macromolecular structure. Such peptide-based responsive biomaterials have exciting prospects for a variety of biomedical and bionanotechnology applications in drug delivery, bio-sensing and regenerative medicine. 1. Introduction biomedical applications. For example, physical or chemical hydrogels loaded with drug molecules may release their Materials that change properties in response to local environ- payload, only when and where required, in response to mental stimuli are increasingly being studied in the context of changes in the local environmental conditions, such as pH, temperature, presence of small molecules or enzymes, and oxidising/reducing environment, among others.1 Another key aSchool of Materials and Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB), Grosvenor Street, Manchester, UK M1 7HS. application is injectable gels for minimal invasive surgery. E-mail:
[email protected]; Fax: +44 161 3068877; These materials may be applied through a syringe, and Tel: +44 161 3065986 undergo a solution-to-gel transition when triggered by b Department of Materials and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, temperature, pH, ionic strength, oxidative species or enzymes Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London, UK SW7 2AZ.