Self assembly of GAG-Functionalised Peptides into Proteoglycan-Like Molecules for Tissue Engineering

组织工程涉及人体内病变或退化组织的替换、修复和再生。目前，由羟基磷灰石制成的支架用于替代骨，而由胶原制成的支架通常用于替代软组织。这些结痂可能具有化学活性，以促进适当的细胞生长。许多软组织还含有分子，如已知的糖胺聚糖（GAG），其是亲水性或结合性分子。这些分子可以与蛋白质连接形成蛋白聚糖，蛋白聚糖通常起到润滑界面和促进相对组织运动的作用。它们还被证明具有重要的生物学功能。肽是氨基酸的小链，其可以被合成以形成自组装肽，所述自组装肽形成长链和复杂结构，其可以模拟胶原蛋白样分子。这个推测性研究项目的目的是探索将GAG连接到自组装肽的可能性，使它们表现得像蛋白聚糖，并研究GAG功能化肽的自组装

Tissue engineering involves the replacement, repair and regeneration of diseased or degenerative tissues in the human body. Currently scaffolds made of hydroxyapatite are used to replace bone, and scaffolds made of collagen are commonly used to replace soft tissues. These scafolds may be chemically active to encourge appropriate cell growth. Many soft tissues also contain molecules such known as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which are water liking or binding molecules. These molecules may be linked to proteins to form proteoglycans which often act to lubricate interfaces and facilitate relative tissue movements. They have also been shown to fulfil important biological functions. Peptides are small chains of amino acids which can be synthesised to form self-assembling peptides which form long chains and complex structures which can mimic collagen-like molecules. The aims of this speculative research project are to explore the potential for linking GAGs to self-assembling peptides, to make them behave like proteoglycans and study the self-assembly of GAG-functionalised peptides