[Controlled release of fuctional proteins IGF-1, aFGF and VEGF through self-assembling peptide nanofiber hydrogel]

Peptide RADA can undergo spontaneous assembly into well ordered nanofibers and hydrogels in its water solution. In this work, a variety of proteins, including IGF-1, aFGF and VEGF with different molecular weight and isoelectric points, were chosen and encapsulated within the RADA peptide hydrogel. UV-vis spectroscopy was used to determine the concentration of the released proteins in the solution. The release kinetics suggested that protein diffusion through nanofiber hydrogels depended primarily on the size of the protein and the density of the peptide nanofiber. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy indicated that the encapsulation and release by RADA hydrogel did not affect the secondary structure of the proteins studied.