THERMOREVERSIBLE HYDROGELS FROM THE ARRESTED PHASE SEPARATION OF ELASTIN-LIKE POLYPEPTIDES

摘要

Disclosed are elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) that form hydrogels upon heating. In certain embodiments, the invention relates to a polypeptide with the generic sequence (XPAVG)n, wherein independently for each occurrence X can be any one of a number of different natural or unnatural amino acids, and n is chosen to determine the size of the protein. In certain embodiments, the polypeptide is artificially engineered and the invention relates to a method of engineering the polypeptide, for example, via biosynthesis. In certain embodiments, the invention relates to a composition, comprising a solvent; and any one of the polypeptides described herein.