| This thesis describes a set of peptide amphiphiles (PAs) designed for spinal cord repair (SCI). These PAs self: assemble under physiological conditions into nanofibers that cause macroscopic gelation. Hydrogen bonding, hydrophobicity, and electrostatics, which control the self-assembly, are compared throughout this thesis. PA performance is explored from a materials science and a bioengineering perspective.; The salt-triggered gelation of three PAs with similar charge distributions, each bearing the neurite-outgrowth-promoting laminin-1 epitope IKVAV, is studied by rheology in Chapter 2. Stiffer, more hydrophilic PAs gel more slowly, as verified by testing analogous PAs bearing the fibronectin epitope RGD. Circular dichroism (CD) and turbidity suggest a nucleated self-assembly mechanism that depends on preexisting aggregates. Slowing gelation assists PA injection into the mouse spinal cord. Mouse neural progenitor cell (mNPC) studies with the IKVAV-PAs show cell survival, neurite outgrowth and selective neuronal differentiation, which may improve SCI repair by preventing glial scarring.; Two PAs containing another laminin-1 epitope, YIGSR, are described in Chapter 3. In a negatively charged YIGSR-bearing PA (YIGSR-PA), mNPCs behave as in the IKVAV-bearing PAs, but grow longer neurites possibly due to epitope signaling. A positively charged YIGSR-bearing PA (Pos-YIGSR-PA) does not support mNPC survival. P19 cell line studies and zeta-potential measurements show that cell death is due to the PA substrate's surface charge and is specific to mNPCs.; Mixed IKVAV-PA/YIGSR-PA scaffolds show averaging of cell behavior, while IKVAV-PA/Pos-YIGSR-PA mixtures fail to rescue cell viability. These dual-epitope scaffolds are studied in Chapter 4 by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and CD. The like-charged mixture is composed of single-component fibers forming an interpenetrating network (IPN). The oppositely charged mixture is composed of mixed fibers, as predicted from simulation. Chapter 5 describes model PAs optimized for mixed fiber visualization. A biotin-tagged positively charged PA is mixed with a negatively charged PA and incubated with avidin-functionalized gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals mixed-fiber networks composed of alternating single-PA regions, which could be more bioactive than the IPN scaffolds. Overall, these PA materials are versatile and show promise for SCI repair. Future work could involve addition of more epitopes and further investigation of the self-assembly mechanism. |
