14 - Antimicrobial peptides as hydrogels for tissue regeneration and repair

Abstract

There has been significant interest in harnessing biomolecules, the building blocks of nature (peptides, lipids, nucleic acids, and sugars), in regenerative medicine applications. The peptide backbone shows great promise due to its ability to replicate the extracellular matrix and show tissue-like characteristics. Peptide and peptide-like (peptidomimetic) molecules represent a highly novel strategy to form self-assembled nanomaterials. Alteration of the primary amino acid sequence allows highly specific supramolecular properties to be obtained, including the ability to form hydrogel structures in response to environmental stimuli (e.g., pH) and selective antimicrobial activity. Peptide hydrogels possess numerous advantages over current synthetic materials including tunable biodegradability, tailored antimicrobial activity/gelation in response to infection, increased chemical versatility, minimal immunogenicity, and enhanced biocompatibility. Nonnative chemistries and functional groups are easily incorporated into the peptide backbone allowing peptide hydrogels to be tailored to specific functional requirements. As mediators of the host’s innate immune response, peptides possess a multitude of extracellular and intracellular microbial targets, limiting the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance developing against them. As a group they show great promise as novel drug molecules with the potential to fill the current void in antimicrobial pharmaceuticals. This chapter explores some of the most promising research conducted within the antimicrobial and self-assembled peptide field, highlighting their role as future regenerative therapies.