| 초록 |
Genetically engineered, polypeptide-based materials for biomedicine have been recently explored. We have been developing stimuli-responsive elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), artificial repetitive polypeptides. ELPs exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition behavior. With environmental responsiveness of ELPs, we reported a series of biomedical applications of ELPs, and their fusions with functional proteins: (1) non-chromatographic protein purification; (2) control of biophysical property of ELPs and ELP fusions; (3) temperature-triggered, self-assembling ELP nanostructures and hydrogels for drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Special emphasis will be given to self-assembling ELP block copolymers and their fusions of which properties are largely controlled by the amino acid sequence, block length, thermal transition of each block, and their fusion domains. This study opens a new avenue for developing smart polypeptide-based materials. |
