Glycopeptide-based supramolecular hydrogels induce differentiation of stem cells into neural lineages

Short peptide amphiphiles have been widely reported as building blocks of supramolecular hydrogels for biomedical applications^1,2, as they can copycat bioactive protein sequences. However, in the extracellular matrix (ECM), proteins are usually present as glycoproteins with different roles, e.g., storage depots of proteins and co-receptors. In this context, the use of self-assembling glycopeptide amphiphiles is gaining an increasing interest³ due to their ability to form supramolecular structures that mimic the ECM. In addition, the fact that they are maintained by non-covalent interactions (e.g., p-p or CH-p stacking) makes them inherently stimuli-responsive and dynamic systems.² Here, we synthesised a short glycopeptide amphiphile, i.e., Fmoc-diphenylalanine-glucosamine-6-sulfate (Fmoc-FF-GlcN6S), and evaluated its ability to promote neural regeneration.