Materials World Network: Dynamic Materials with Triggerable Adhesion Motifs

Andrés J. García, GA Tech Research Corporation – GA institute of Technology, DMR 0909002

• Our goal is to engineer biomaterials that present cell adhesive motifs that can be triggered by external stimuli (light).

• By controlling the presentation of adhesive ligands, we can precisely tune cell-material interactions.

• We have engineered hydrogels that present a caged-RGD peptide. RGD is a potent cell adhesive peptide. The DNMPB cap on the peptide is cleaved by 351nm light, thereby exposing the RGD adhesive peptide. This reaction happens within minutes, and provides a platform to study the effects of high resolution spatiotemporal control of adhesion.

PEG-based hydrogel, formed by free-radical polymerization

Materials World Network: Dynamic Materials with Triggerable Adhesion Motifs

Andrés J. García, GA Tech Research Corporation – GA institute of Technology, DMR 0909002

• Project has supported a graduate bioengineering student.

• Graduate student and PI will visit collaborator at the Max Planck Institute for Polymers in Germany to conduct experiments as part of MWN award.

• We are recruiting an underr-epresented minority undergraduate student for a summer project.

Cell adhesion to biomaterials can be triggered by light. Hydrogels with caged-peptide that are not exposed to light support background levels of adhesion. In contrast, exposure to light for 2 min, activates RGD peptide and provides robust adhesion.