Modification of Materials With Bioactive Peptides

Bioactive polymeric materials can be constructed via the modification of bioinert polymers with bioactive peptides such as cell-adhesion peptides or growth factors. Such materials can be designed to induce specific biological responses desired in applications such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. For example, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) has been immobilized to polymeric scaffold materials to increase the synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and thus improve the mechanical properties of the engineered tissue (1 ), and epidermal growth factor has been immobilized to improve the function of hepatocytes (2 ). Cell adhesion peptides have been grafted to polymeric scaffold materials in order to enhance and promote cell attachment and spreading (3 –5 ). Alternatively, materials can be designed to be cell-selective, and adhesive for only a particular cell type, by modifying cell non-adhesive polymers with cell-selective adhesion ligands. Examples of cell-selective ligands include the peptide REDV, which interacts with endothelial cells but not platelets, fibroblasts, or smooth-muscle cells (SMCs) (6 ), and the peptide KRSR, which interacts with osteoblasts but not fibroblasts (7 ).