Dynamic protein and polypeptide hydrogels based on Schiff base co-assembly for biomedicine
Kartik Sahajpal, Shashank Shekhar, Amit Kumar, Bhasha Sharma, Mahendra Kumar Meena, Ajay Kumar Bhagi, Shreya Sharma
Abstract
therapy. Natural proteins and polypeptides are non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible biopolymers that serve fundamental structural and biochemical functions in the human body. Besides natural polypeptides, easily processible synthetic polypeptides are protein analogues with widely tunable sequences that form secondary structures. Therefore, natural proteins and synthetic polypeptides are excellent candidates for fabricating Schiff base-linked biomedical hydrogels. This review outlines the functional properties, design approaches, and applications of Schiff base-linked protein and polypeptide hydrogels in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, wound dressing, drug delivery, bioprinting, and biosensors. The review ends with an outlook of future developments for potential applications of Schiff base-linked protein and polypeptide hydrogels in and beyond biomedicine.