Abstract:
Biocompatible hydrogels are being looked at as an option to solve many problems in the biomedical field. This article reports on the self-assembling interactions between chondroitin sulfate and each of our two molecules, L and D versions of Nap-FFGSRKR. We have found with optical images that a hydrogel forms when the L-peptide interacts with chondroitin sulfate in vitro at a 1:1 ratio in water, with TEM images showing self-assembled nanofibers 9±2 nm in diameter. We also report on the biocompatibility that our two molecules have with ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3, OVCAR3, OVCAR4) and a cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). We have found that L and D peptides show little cytotoxicity (IC50 values >500 μM for both) and high biocompatibility with all tested cell lines after the first 48 hours. Both peptides, especially L-peptide, were seen with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) to interact with chondroitin sulfate on the membrane of HeLa cells to form self-assemblies on the cellular surface in the pericellular space.
