PEPTIDE BIOCOMPATIBLE POLYMER MACROMOLECULAR COMPLEXES

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Macromolecular systems composed of synthetic biocompatible polymers and bioactive peptides/molecules have received attention because of application in drug delivery and tissue engineering. The macromolecular systems being developed for such applications have been prepared by covalent linking of the synthetic polymer with the oligopeptide and/or bioactive molecules. It is of interest if such macromolecular systems may be prepared utilizing non-covalent forces of interaction(s) as the method of conjugation. Recent studies have led to the development of methods to prepare, characterize and carefully elucidate non-covalent (mainly hydrophobic) forces necessary for the formation of stable peptide/biocompatible polymer complexes. Based on these studies, the proposed research may be divided into two parts as follows: ¿Development of hydrogels systems with non-covalently conjugated peptides for tissue engineering and drug delivery. ¿ Development of biodegradable reverse micelles for bioactive molecule/peptide drug delivery. Specifically the following will be demonstrated: ¿The applicability of hydrogel/peptide non-covalent adducts for peptide drug delivery and tissue engineering. ¿Applicability of biodegradable reverse micelles for drug delivery. The overall and overarching goal of our studies is the development of non-covalent adducts of a bioactive molecule and biocompatible polymer for application in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems.