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Natsume K, Nakamura J, Sato K, Ohtsuki C, Sugawara-Narutaki A. Biological properties of self-assembled nanofibers of elastin-like block polypeptides for tissue-engineered vascular grafts: platelet inhibition, endothelial cell activation and smooth muscle cell maintenance. Regen Biomater 2022; 10:rbac111. [PMID: 36683748 PMCID: PMC9845521 DOI: 10.1093/rb/rbac111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Strategic materials design is essential for the development of small-diameter, tissue-engineered vascular grafts. Self-assembled nanofibers of elastin-like polypeptides represent promising vascular graft components as they replicate the organized elastin structure of native blood vessels. Further, the bioactivity of nanofibers can be modified by the addition of functional peptide motifs. In the present study, we describe the development of a novel nanofiber-forming elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) with an arginine-glutamic acid-aspartic acid-valine (REDV) sequence. The biological characteristics of the REDV-modified ELP nanofibers relevant to applications in vascular grafting were compared to ELP without ligands for integrin, ELP with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) sequence, collagen and cell culture glass. Among them, REDV-modified ELP nanofibers met the preferred biological properties for vascular graft materials, i.e. (i) inhibition of platelet adhesion and activation, (ii) endothelial cell adhesion and proliferation and (iii) maintenance of smooth muscle cells in a contractile phenotype to prevent cell overgrowth. The results indicate that REDV-modified ELP nanofibers represent promising candidates for the further development of small-diameter vascular grafts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuki Natsume
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
| | - Jin Nakamura
- Department of Biological Functions Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka 808-0196, Japan
| | - Kazuhide Sato
- Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan,Department of Respiratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya 466-8560, Japan
| | - Chikara Ohtsuki
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
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Sugawara-Narutaki A, Yasunaga S, Sugioka Y, Le DHT, Kitamura I, Nakamura J, Ohtsuki C. Rheology of Dispersions of High-Aspect-Ratio Nanofibers Assembled from Elastin-Like Double-Hydrophobic Polypeptides. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E6262. [PMID: 31842263 PMCID: PMC6940774 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20246262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are promising candidates for fabricating tissue-engineering scaffolds that mimic the extracellular environment of elastic tissues. We have developed a "double-hydrophobic" block ELP, GPG, inspired by non-uniform distribution of two different hydrophobic domains in natural elastin. GPG has a block sequence of (VGGVG)5-(VPGXG)25-(VGGVG)5 that self-assembles to form nanofibers in water. Functional derivatives of GPG with appended amino acid motifs can also form nanofibers, a display of the block sequence's robust self-assembling properties. However, how the block length affects fiber formation has never been clarified. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of a novel ELP, GPPG, in which the central sequence (VPGVG)25 is repeated twice by a short linker sequence. The self-assembly behavior and the resultant nanostructures of GPG and GPPG were when compared through circular dichroism spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Dynamic rheology measurements revealed that the nanofiber dispersions of both GPG and GPPG at an extremely low concentration (0.034 wt%) exhibited solid-like behavior with storage modulus G' > loss modulus G" over wide range of angular frequencies, which was most probably due to the high aspect ratio of the nanofibers that leads to the flocculation of nanofibers in the dispersion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayae Sugawara-Narutaki
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan; (Y.S.); (D.H.T.L.); (J.N.); (C.O.)
| | - Sawako Yasunaga
- Department of Crystalline Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan;
| | - Yusuke Sugioka
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan; (Y.S.); (D.H.T.L.); (J.N.); (C.O.)
| | - Duc H. T. Le
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan; (Y.S.); (D.H.T.L.); (J.N.); (C.O.)
| | - Issei Kitamura
- Department of Molecular and Macromolecular Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan;
| | - Jin Nakamura
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan; (Y.S.); (D.H.T.L.); (J.N.); (C.O.)
| | - Chikara Ohtsuki
- Department of Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan; (Y.S.); (D.H.T.L.); (J.N.); (C.O.)
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Le DHT, Tsutsui Y, Sugawara-Narutaki A, Yukawa H, Baba Y, Ohtsuki C. Double-hydrophobic elastin-like polypeptides with added functional motifs: Self-assembly and cytocompatibility. J Biomed Mater Res A 2017; 105:2475-2484. [PMID: 28486777 DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.36105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
We have recently developed a novel double-hydrophobic elastin-like triblock polypeptide called GPG, designed after the uneven distribution of two different hydrophobic domains found in elastin, an extracellular matrix protein providing elasticity and resilience to tissues. Upon temperature trigger, GPG undergoes a sequential self-assembling process to form flexible beaded nanofibers with high homogeneity and excellent dispersibility in water. Given that GPG might be a potential elastin-mimetic material, we sought to explore the biological activities of this block polypeptide. Besides GPG, several functionalized derivatives were also constructed by fusing functional motifs such as KAAK or KAAKGRGDS at the C-terminal of GPG. Although the added motifs affected the kinetics of fiber formation and β-sheet contents, all three GPGs assembled into beaded nanofibers at the physiological temperature. The resulting GPG nanofibers preserved their beaded structures in cell culture medium; therefore, they were coated on polystyrene substrates to study their cytocompatibility toward mouse embryonic fibroblasts, NIH-3T3. Among the three polypeptides, GPG having the cell-binding motif GRGDS derived from fibronectin showed excellent cell adhesion and cell proliferation properties compared to other conventional materials, suggesting its promising applications as extracellular matrices for mammalian cells. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2475-2484, 2017.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc H T Le
- Department of Crystalline Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.,Venture Business Laboratory, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan
| | - Yoko Tsutsui
- ImPACT Research Center for Advanced Nanobiodevices, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan
| | - Ayae Sugawara-Narutaki
- Department of Crystalline Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Yukawa
- ImPACT Research Center for Advanced Nanobiodevices, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.,Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan
| | - Yoshinobu Baba
- ImPACT Research Center for Advanced Nanobiodevices, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.,Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.,Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.,Health Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu, 761-0395, Japan
| | - Chikara Ohtsuki
- Department of Crystalline Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan
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