2019-04-15, Koch, Franziska, Kilian, David, Hettich, Timm, Germershaus, Oliver

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory and tissue‐destructive disease. Since the polymicrobiome in the oral cavity makes it difficult to treat, novel therapeutic strategies are required. Hydrogels based on self‐assembling peptides (SAP) can be suitable candidates for periodontal therapy due to their injectability, biocompatibility, cargo‐loading capacity, and tunable physicochemical and mechanical properties. In this study, two SAP hydrogels (P11‐4 and P11‐28/29) are examined for their intrinsic antimicrobial activity, regenerative potential, and antibiotic delivery capacity. A significant antibacterial effect of P11‐28/29 hydrogels on the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis and a less pronounced effect for P11‐4 hydrogels is demonstrated. The metabolic activity rates of human dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs), which reflect cell viability and may thus indicate the regenerative capacity, are similar on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) and on P11‐4 hydrogels after 14 days of culture. Noticeably, both SAP hydrogels strengthen the osteogenic differentiation of DFSCs compared with TCPS. The incorporation of tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and doxycycline does not affect fibril formation of either SAP hydrogel and results in favorable release kinetics up to 120 h. In summary, this study reveals that P11‐SAP hydrogels combine many favorable properties required to make them applicable as prospective novel treatment strategy for periodontal therapy.

2018-10, Koch, Franziska, Wolff, Anne, Mathes, Stephanie, Pieles, Uwe, Saxer, Sina, Kreikemeyer, Bernd, Peters, Kirsten

The regeneration of tissue defects at the interface between soft and hard tissue, eg, in the periodontium, poses a challenge due to the divergent tissue requirements. A class of biomaterials that may support the regeneration at the soft-to-hard tissue interface are self-assembling peptides (SAPs), as their physicochemical and mechanical properties can be rationally designed to meet tissue requirements.

2018-03, Koch, Franziska, König, Finja, Meyer, Nina, Gattlen, Jasmin, Pieles, Uwe, Peters, Kirsten, Kreikemeyer, Bernd, Mathes, Stephanie, Saxer, Sina, Müller, Michael

Self-assembling peptide hydrogels can be modified regarding their biodegradability, their chemical and mechanical properties and their nanofibrillar structure. Thus, self-assembling peptide hydrogels might be suitable scaffolds for regenerative therapies and tissue engineering. Owing to the use of various peptide concentrations and buffer compositions, the self-assembling peptide hydrogels might be influenced regarding their mechanical characteristics. Therefore, the mechanical properties and stability of a set of self-assembling peptide hydrogels, consisting of 11 amino acids, made from four beta sheet self-assembling peptides in various peptide concentrations and buffer compositions were studied. The formed self-assembling peptide hydrogels exhibited stiffnesses ranging from 0.6 to 205 kPa. The hydrogel stiffness was mostly affected by peptide sequence followed by peptide concentration and buffer composition. All self-assembling peptide hydrogels examined provided a nanofibrillar network formation. A maximum self-assembling peptide hydrogel dissolution of 20% was observed for different buffer solutions after 7 days. The stability regarding enzymatic and bacterial digestion showed less degradation in comparison to the self-assembling peptide hydrogel dissolution rate in buffer. The tested set of self-assembling peptide hydrogels were able to form stable scaffolds and provided a broad spectrum of tissue-specific stiffnesses that are suitable for a regenerative therapy.