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Bioinspired Robust Keratin Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications.

Liling ChenRun MengRui QingWenfeng LiZiwei WangYao HouJia DengWei PuZibin GaoBochu WangShilei Hao
Published in: Nano letters (2022)
Although keratins are robust in nature, hydrogels producing their extracts exhibit poor mechanical properties due to the complicated composition and ineffective self-assembly. Here we report a bioinspired strategy to fabricate robust keratin hydrogels based on mechanism study through recombinant proteins. Homotypic and heterotypic self-assembly of selected type I and type II keratins in different combinations was conducted to identify crucial domain structures for the process, their kinetics, and relationship with the mechanical strength of hydrogels. Segments with best performance were isolated and used to construct novel assembling units. The new design outperformed combinations of native proteins in mechanical properties and in biomedical applications such as controlled drug release and skin regeneration. Our approach not only elucidated the critical structural domains and underlying mechanisms for keratin self-assembly but also opens an avenue toward the rational design of robust keratin hydrogels for biomedical applications.
Keyphrases
  • drug release
  • drug delivery
  • wound healing
  • hyaluronic acid
  • extracellular matrix
  • tissue engineering
  • stem cells
  • high resolution