Applications of self-assembling peptide scaffolds in regenerative medicine: the way to the clinic

J Mater Chem B. 2014 Dec 28;2(48):8466-8478. doi: 10.1039/c4tb01095g. Epub 2014 Oct 24.

Abstract

Peptides that self-assemble into well-defined nanofibrous networks provide a prominent alternative to traditional biomaterials for fabricating scaffolds for use in regenerative medicine and other biomedical applications. Such scaffolds can be generated by decorating a peptide backbone with other bioactives such as cell specific adhesion peptides, growth factors and enzyme cleavable sequences. They can be designed to mimic the three-dimensional (3D) structural features of native ECM and can therefore also provide insight into the ECM-cell interactions needed for development of scaffolds that can serve as regeneration templates for specific target tissues or organs. This review highlights the potential application of self-assembling peptides in regenerative medicine.