The Ratio of Hydrogelator and Precursor Controls Enzymatic Hydrogelation of a Branched Peptide

Here we report an apparently counterintuitive observation that a lower volume fraction of a branched peptide forms a stronger hydrogel after an enterokinase (ENTK) cleaves off the branch from the peptide. By varying the ratio of the branched peptide and ENTK and analyzing the ratio of the hydrogelator and the precursor (H/P) of the enzymatic proteolysis, our study shows the H/P ratio of the enzymatic reaction controls the critical strain of the hydrogels formed by enzymatically cleaving the branch off peptide. This work demonstrates emergent properties (e.g., hydrogelation) of peptide assemblies, resulted from enzymatic noncovalent synthesis (ENS), are context-dependent and provides insights for developing dynamic soft materials by ENS