Novel Ultrashort Peptide Nanogels Generate Silver Nanoparticles to Combat Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance Strains
Internship Description
Workshop Description
Ultrashort linear peptides
consisting of 3–7 natural amino acids self-assemble to helical fibers within
supramolecular structures. The amphiphilic peptide motif, – a hydrophobic tail
and a hydrophilic head group-, facilitates self-assembly via parallel-antiparallel
α-helical pairs and subsequent stacking into β-turn fibrils. Aggregation of
fibrils into fibers results in the formation of nanogels scaffolds capable of
entrapping up to 99.9% water. During self-assembly, these ultrashort peptides
form meshed 3D nanofibrous networks that extend into the micro-scale length.
Nanogels made from self-assembling ultrashort peptides (4-6 amino acids
in size) are promising biomaterials for various biomedical applications such as
tissue engineering, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, microbiology and
biosensing. We have developed silver-releasing peptide nanogels with promising
wound care applications. The peptide nanogels allowed a precise control of in
situ synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), using solely a short exposure to
UV radiation and no other chemical reducing agent. We propose these
silver-releasing nanogels as excellent biomaterial to combat emerging
antimicrobial resistant strains.
Deliverables/Expectations
Deliverables
Generation of silver
nanoparticles in situ (Hauser), computational studies on kinetics and size of
nanoparticle formation under restricted conditions (Michels), study of
nanofiber networks by computational dynamics (Michels) and by bioimaging
techniques ( electron microscopy (SEM, TEM)) (Hauser), CD and FT-IR
spectroscopy to follow up on nanofiber formation (Hauser)
Faculty Name
Dominik L Michels, Charlotte Hauser
Field of Study
Field Of Study
Self- assembly,
tissue engineering, nanogels, silver nanoparticles, antimicrobial agents