Fabrication of Thermo-Responsive Molecular Layers from Self-Assembling Elastin-Like Oligopeptides Containing Cell-Binding Domain for Tissue Engineering

Novel thermo-responsive elastin-like oligopeptides containing cell-binding epitope (Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser sequence); arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-serine (RGDS)-elastin-like peptides (ELP) and RGDS- deg-ELP; were newly prepared as building blocks of self-assembled molecular layer for artificial extra cellular matrix. A detailed analysis of the conformation of the oligo(ELP)s in water and their self-assembling behavior onto hydrophobic surfaces were performed by using circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy and water contact angle measurements. The experimental results revealed that both oligo(ELP)s self-assembled onto hydrophobic surfaces and formed molecular layers based on their thermo-responsive conformational change from hydrous random coil to dehydrated β-turn structure. Effective cell adhesion and spreading behaviors were observed on these self-assembled oligo(ELP) layers. In addition, attached cells were found to be recovered successfully as a cell-sheet by temperature-induced disassembly of oligo(ELP) layer. This achievement provides an important insight to construct novel oligopeptide-based nano-surfaces for the design of smart artificial extra-cellular matrix.