MULTIFUNCTIONAL SUPRAMOLECULAR HYDROGELS AS BIOMATERIALS

摘要

The present invention provides supramolecular hydrogels having a three-dimensional, self- assembling, elastic, network structure comprising non-polymeric, functional molecules and a liquid medium, whereby the functional molecules are noncovalently crosslinked. The present invention also provides methods of making supramolecular hydrogels that show biostability. The functional molecules may be antibiotics, carbohydrates, aminosugars, small peptides, a- amino acids, ß-amino acids, unnatural amino acids, halogenated amino acids, or a combination thereof. Applications of the present invention include use of the supramolecular hydrogel as a biomaterial for wound healing, drug delivery, enzymatic reactions, enzyme detection and identification of enzyme inhibitors.